As anticipated following last week’s decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, striking down the Department of Labor’s May 2016 Final Rule regarding the FLSA’s “white collar” overtime exemptions, the DOL has asked the Fifth Circuit to dismiss its appeal of the district court’s preliminary injunction invalidating the Rule last November.  In a succinct, unopposed motion, the DOL noted that the district court’s final judgment rendered the preliminary injunction moot, citing established Fifth Circuit law for that proposition.

It would appear unlikely the DOL will appeal last week’s order granting summary judgment to the State and Business Plaintiffs, which may result in the end to the Obama-era overtime rule. Employers now await the possibility of a new rule, almost certainly with a substantially lower minimum salary, following completion of the DOL’s recently-published request for information, responses to which are due by September 25, 2017.

We will continue to follow these developments.  Please contact the Jackson Lewis attorney with whom you work with questions about the decision and compliance with the FLSA’s overtime exemptions.

UPDATE:  On September 6, 2017, at the direction of the court, the Clerk of the Fifth Circuit dismissed the appeal as requested by the DOL.