Co-authored by Katy Smallwood and Kevin Young

Few industries have been as heavily targeted by FLSA plaintiffs’ attorneys as the retail industry. In a retail environment where salaried managers often pitch in to help complete the day’s work while simultaneously supervising and directing subordinates, plaintiffs’ attorneys routinely argue that the most relied upon overtime exemption in this area—the executive exemption—is
Continue Reading Retail Victory Delayed, But Not Denied: Following 6th Circuit Remand, Michigan Federal Court Rules (Again) That Assistant Manager is Exempt

Authored by Kyle Petersen

The facts are familiar:

  • An employee who is classified as exempt files suit claiming misclassification and seeking overtime pay.
  • Understandably, the employer does not have time records for the employee because he was treated as exempt and paid on a salary basis.
  • Employee fills the void by testifying that he worked 60 hours every single week


Continue Reading Put Up or Shut Up: 8th Circuit Shuts Down Overtime Claim Because Plaintiff’s Guestimates of His Hours Worked Are Insufficient

Co-authored by Robert S. Whitman and Howard M. Wexler

Last summer, the Second Circuit issued a flurry of decisions clarifying the pleading standard in FLSA cases.  In one of those cases, Dejesus v. HF Management Services, LLC, the court held that, in order to state a valid overtime claim after the Supreme Court’s decisions in Iqbal and Twombly,
Continue Reading No Bones About It: Courts Within Second Circuit Continue to Dismiss “Bare Bones” FLSA Complaints

Co-authored by Rishi Puri, Noah Finkel, and Andrew Paley

At this point, California employers are all too familiar with litigation seeking compensation for preliminary and postliminary activities.  The de minimis doctrine is a main line of defense in actions for these claims.  Recognized in the seminal U.S. Supreme Court decision of Anderson v. Mt Clemens Pottery Co.,
Continue Reading Starbucks Ruling Makes the Most of the De Minimis Doctrine

GAseal.gifCo-authored by Benjamin Briggs, Heather Havette, and Patrick Ryan

A federal judge in Georgia recently denied conditional collective-action certification for a proposed class of more than 65,000 hourly employees of the national restaurant chain Steak ‘n Shake.  While the court’s opinion is notable in several respects, its most striking feature is the court’s apparent receptiveness to evidence that

Continue Reading Burger Chain Flips Plaintiffs’ Attempt for National Conditional Certification

California Court of Appeals Seal2.pngCo-authored by George Preonas and Hayley Macon

On July 23, 2012, in Harris v. Superior Court (Liberty Mutual Ins. Co.), a case that the California Supreme Court previously had reversed and remanded, the California Court of Appeal stuck by its prior conclusion and held that insurance claims adjusters do not qualify for the administrative exemption from overtime pay requirements.

Continue Reading California Court of Appeal Significantly Narrows Administrative Exemption

blackberryAuthored by Alex Passantino

For years, questions have been swirling around the intersection of 21st Century technology and the Depression-era law that governs whether and how an employee should be paid for the time spent using that technology.  Regular readers of this blog may recall that this summer, the House Committee on Education and Workforce’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections

Continue Reading Congress Working to Better Understand ‘Work’?