§ 216.
(b)
Damages; right of action; attorney’s fees and costs; termination of right of action
Any employer who violates the provisions of section 206 or section 207 of this title shall be liable to the employee or employees affected in the amount of their unpaid minimum wages, or their unpaid overtime compensation, as the case may be, and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. Any employer who violates the provisions of section 215(a)(3) or 218d of this title shall be liable for such legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate to effectuate the purposes of section 215(a)(3) or 218d of this title, including without limitation employment, reinstatement, promotion, and the payment of wages lost and an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. Any employer who violates section 203(m)(2)(B) of this title shall be liable to the employee or employees affected in the amount of the sum of any tip credit taken by the employer and all such tips unlawfully kept by the employer, and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. An action to recover the liability prescribed in the preceding sentences may be maintained against any employer (including a public agency) in any Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction by any one or more employees for and in behalf of himself or themselves and other employees similarly situated. No employee shall be a party plaintiff to any such action unless he gives his consent in writing to become such a party and such consent is filed in the court in which such action is brought. The court in such action shall, in addition to any judgment awarded to the plaintiff or plaintiffs, allow a reasonable attorney’s fee to be paid by the defendant, and costs of the action. The right provided by this subsection to bring an action by or on behalf of any employee, and the right of any employee to become a party plaintiff to any such action, shall terminate upon the filing of a complaint by the Secretary of Labor in an action under section 217 of this title in which (1) restraint is sought of any further delay in the payment of unpaid minimum wages, or the amount of unpaid overtime compensation, as the case may be, owing to such employee under section 206 or section 207 of this title by an employer liable therefor under the provisions of this subsection or (2) legal or equitable relief is sought as a result of alleged violations of section 215(a)(3) or 218d of this title.
([June 25, 1938, ch. 676, § 16], [52 Stat. 1069]; [May 14, 1947, ch. 52, § 5(a)], [61 Stat. 87]; [Oct. 26, 1949, ch. 736, § 14], [63 Stat. 919]; 1950 Reorg. Plan No. 6, §§ 1, 2, 15 F.R. 3174, [64 Stat. 1263]; [Aug. 8, 1956, ch. 1035, § 4], [70 Stat. 1118]; [Pub. L. 85–231, § 1(2)], Aug. 30, 1957, [71 Stat. 514]; [Pub. L. 87–30, § 12(a)], May 5, 1961, [75 Stat. 74]; [Pub. L. 89–601, title VI, § 601(a)], Sept. 23, 1966, [80 Stat. 844]; [Pub. L. 93–259], §§ 6(d)(1), 25(c), 26, Apr. 8, 1974, [88 Stat. 61], 72, 73; [Pub. L. 95–151, § 10], Nov. 1, 1977, [91 Stat. 1252]; [Pub. L. 101–157, § 9], Nov. 17, 1989, [103 Stat. 945]; [Pub. L. 101–508, title III, § 3103], Nov. 5, 1990, [104 Stat. 1388–29]; [Pub. L. 104–174, § 2], Aug. 6, 1996, [110 Stat. 1554]; [Pub. L. 110–233, title III, § 302(a)], May 21, 2008, [122 Stat. 920]; [Pub. L. 115–141, div. S, title XII, § 1201(b)], Mar. 23, 2018, [132 Stat. 1148]; [Pub. L. 117–328, div. KK, § 102(b)(2)], Dec. 29, 2022, [136 Stat. 6096].)