Citing Comcast and Dukes, a New York Federal Judge Denies Class Certification in Outside Sales Misclassification Case
In a welcome decision for employers, Tracy v. NVR Inc., the federal District Court for the Western District of New York granted the employer’s motion to decertify a collective action under the FLSA and denied the plaintiffs’ motion to certify a class action pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The case involved a putative class of Home Sales and Marketing Representatives (SMRs) who claimed they were misclassified as exempt outside sales representatives.
The key issue in the case was whether the SMRs satisfied the outside sales exemption requirement that they work away from the employer’s business for the requisite period of time each week. In denying certification of the Rule 23 state law class action, the Tracy court cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, which held that class certification requires a classwide method of measuring damages, and Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which held that commonality requires not only common questions, but also common answers to those questions. Applying these principles, the court found that because the SMRs worked in different locations, under different supervisors, and performed duties outside of their offices in varying degrees and in different ways, their claims “as well as any determinations to be made concerning damages – are too highly individualized to form the basis for a class action.” Moreover, the court concluded, “the interests of judicial economy would not be served by the hundreds of fact-intensive ‘mini-trials’ that a class action of this nature would require.”
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California Labor Code sections 515.5 and 515.6 provide that certain computer software employees, as well as licensed physicians and surgeons, are exempt from state overtime requirements if they receive a minimum hourly, monthly, or yearly rate. The rate is determined annually based upon changes to the California Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. Because the Index experienced a 2.6% increase from August 2011 to August 2012, the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) adjusted the rates these individuals must be paid to be considered overtime-exempt.
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In welcome news for employers who treat “team leaders” as exempt pursuant to the executive exemption, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, in
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in
On January 27, 2012, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona granted AutoZone’s motion for summary judgment in a case brought on behalf of a nationwide class of current and former store managers seeking overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In so ruling, the court rejected the store managers’ argument that they were not bona fide executive employees under the FLSA.
On January 24, 2012, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, issued an important decision providing new and needed guidance on the commissioned sales exemption. In
After a trial to the court in September 2011, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio entered judgment on January 5, 2012 in favor of Defendant Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, on all claims alleged against it by a nationwide class of Special Investigators who claimed they were misclassified as exempt from the overtime requirements of the FLSA and New York and California state wage laws.
In a long-awaited decision, the California Supreme Court unanimously gave California employers a holiday present in an opinion that follows the majority of federal courts in finding that insurance claims adjusters are exempt administrative employees.
The First Circuit Court of Appeals
On November 16, 2011, the New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed a finding that registered nurses who were paid on an hourly basis were exempt from the overtime requirements of the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law (“NJWHL”), even though the
The U.S. Supreme Court has
Under the California Labor Code, certain computer software employees, as well as licensed physicians and surgeons, are exempt from state overtime requirements if they receive a minimum hourly, monthly or yearly rate. The rate is determined annually based upon changes to the California Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. Because the Index experienced a 2.5% increase over the past year, the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) adjusted the rates these individuals must be paid to be considered overtime-exempt.
Effective January 1, 2012, DLSE
Bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate last week would update the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) computer employee exemption. Section 13(a)(17) of the FLSA establishes minimum wage and overtime exemptions for computer systems analysts, computer programmers, software engineers, or other similarly skilled workers provided that these employees’ specific job duties and compensation meet certain requirements. To learn more about the legislation and its potential implications for employers, please
There has been an important change in New Jersey law which may require employers to take immediate action: In recent amendments to its overtime regulations, New Jersey eliminated the exemption for sales employees paid on commission, which closely tracked an exemption in Section 7(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (sometimes known as the “inside sales” exemption). Because New Jersey law is now more protective than the FLSA, at present, it appears likely that employers cannot classify commissioned inside sales employees as exempt from overtime pay.
California Governor Edmund G. Brown recently signed
A social worker required to hold a bachelor’s degree in social or human services, behavioral science or an allied field does not necessarily qualify as a “learned professional,” properly exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Ninth Circuit recently held in
In Zelasko-Barrett v. Brayton Purcell, LLP, No. A130540 (Aug. 17, 2011), California's First District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's order granting summary judgment in favor of the employer, Brayton Purcell. The appellate court held that California's professional overtime exemption applied to the plaintiff during the period of time he was employed as a law clerk at Brayton Purcell and had not yet passed the California Bar Examination. To learn more about the decision and its implications for employers, please continue reading Littler's ASAP,
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Making new law on what qualifies as a “commission” for purposes of the overtime exemption for salespeople, a California Court of Appeal upheld a pay plan that compensates sales employees at a fixed rate for each product sold as opposed to relying on a percentage of the sales price.
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In a collective and putative class action under New York’s overtime and minimum wage laws, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York recently held that the act of being a registered representative pursuant to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) does not in itself absolve an insurance agent from the
On April 13, 2011, a federal district court judge in Illinois held, in
Ten years ago, in
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In a significant victory for Massachusetts healthcare employers, on December 20, 2010, the Massachusetts federal court applied the state overtime exemption available to hospitals, nursing homes, and certain other healthcare employers, and dismissed all 13 state wage-law claims in Cavallaro v.UMass Memorial Health Care. Plaintiffs in the case, a class action filed on behalf of 13,000 current and former employees of UMass Healthcare and its subsidiaries, claimed the hospital did not compensate them for time worked: (1) during meal breaks that were automatically deducted from wages; (2) before and after scheduled shifts; and (3) time spent in training sessions. To learn more about the Cavallaro decision and its implications for employers, please
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Following a Connecticut district court’s denial of summary judgment to the employer in Ruggeri v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a collective action brought by pharmaceutical sales representatives who claimed the were improperly classified as exempt employees, the pharmaceutical company has been hit with another putative collective action by sales representatives seeking overtime wages. But in this new case, Lopez-Lima v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, filed on July 21, 2010 in the federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, plaintiffs allege that Boehringer hired them as “non-exempt commission-paid pharmaceuticals sales representative[s].” To learn more about the case, please
On July 19, 2010, in
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On July 6, 2010 the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in
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On March 25, 2010, the central district court of California denied class certification in two consolidated cases,
In a development that may have significant implications for mortgage lenders and other financial services employers, the Department of Labor has issued a new Administrator's Interpretation finding that mortgage loan officers do not qualify as exempt administrative employees under the FLSA, reversing its prior position and withdrawing previous opinion letters concluding to the contrary. To continue reading about this development, see Littler's ASAP
In Schmidt v. Eagle Waste & Recycling Inc., the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
In its first Administrator Interpretation Letter, the
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit applied the First Amendment’s “ministerial exception” to the claim of a Catholic seminarian, affirming the district court’s Rule 12(c) dismissal of the plaintiff’s claim for overtime pay under the Washington Minimum Wage Act (WMWA). In
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On October 14, 2009, the 