Sixth Circuit

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By: Andrew McKinley

Seyfarth Synopsis: Businesses with arbitration programs often oppose the issuance of notice in FLSA collective actions on the ground that many potential recipients have binding arbitration agreements precluding them from participating in a case. The majority of federal appellate courts have not yet addressed whether arbitration must be addressed before or after notice issues. The Sixth…

Continue Reading Sixth Circuit Joins the Chorus of Appellate Decisions Requiring Arbitration to Be Assessed Before FLSA Notice Issues

Co-authored by Kerry Friedrichs and Kyle Petersen

Seyfarth Synopsis: A common feature of many a commission plan is the recoverable draw that is offset against future commissions. The DOL has long held this is a permissible way to satisfy the minimum wage requirement. In a recent decision, the Sixth Circuit agreed, up to a point—the point of termination. …
Continue Reading Sixth Circuit Cries Foul on Post-Termination Repayment of Recoverable Draw

Co-authored by Noah Finkel, Colton Long, Kyle Petersen, and John Giovannone

Seyfarth Synopsis:  FLSA cases holding against employers typically invoke a canon of construction that the FLSA should be construed broadly, and any of its exemptions narrowly. But a study of the roots of this language shows that the canon has a dubious foundation and that it …
Continue Reading Can We Finally Retire the Notions of Construing The FLSA’s Overtime Provisions Broadly But Its Exemptions Narrowly?

Co-authored by Noah A. Finkel and Abad Lopez

The demise of bank loan underwriters’ exempt status has been greatly exaggerated—at least according to a recent Sixth Circuit decision upholding the dismissal of a putative collective action against Huntington Bank. The court disagreed with underwriters who alleged that they were improperly classified as exempt and thereby wrongfully denied overtime pay. Instead,…
Continue Reading Classifying a Loan Underwriter as Exempt Is a Risk Worth Taking, Says Sixth Circuit

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

sixth cicuit.jpgCo-authored by Kristin McGurn and Timothy Nelson

Courts continue to reject automatic meal period deduction cases and offer useful guidance to hospitals that have been plagued by such cases for years. (Camilotes, Megginson, Wolman).  In White v. Baptist Memorial Health Corporation, the Sixth Circuit endorsed the use of policies to automatically deduct time for unpaid…

Continue Reading Plug Pulled On Another Automatic Meal Period Deduction Case