Earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an unpublished decision affirming summary judgment in favor of Wynn Las Vegas with respect to overtime claims asserted by a Slot Marketing Executive Host. Dannenbring v. Wynn Las Vegas, LLC, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 5715 (9th Cir. Nev. Mar. 28, 2016).
Ninth Circuit
Ninth Circuit Affirms: Not All Complaints About Work Policies Relating to Hours “Protected Activity” Under the FLSA
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Retaliation
The substantive provisions of the FLSA protect covered non-exempt employees’ right to receive minimum wage and, as applicable, overtime pay. The statute’s anti-retaliation provision is co-extensive: it protects employees from termination or other adverse employment action in response to complaints that those provisions were violated. The FLSA however does not extend anti-retaliation protections to employees…
Applying Integrity Staffing, Ninth Circuit Holds that Firefighters’ Time Moving Gear to and from Temporary Assignments is Not Compensable Under the FLSA
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Hours of Work
Applying the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently ruled that firefighters are not entitled to compensation under the FLSA for time spent moving certain necessary gear to and from temporary work assignments at fire stations other than their…
Ninth Circuit Finds That Insurance Claims Adjusters Are Exempt Administrative Employees Under California Law
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in California, Exemptions
Applying California’s administrative exemption test, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently concluded an insurance company properly classified its claims adjusters (who handled and processed disability claims) as exempt from the overtime provisions of the California Labor Code, notwithstanding the clerical duties the adjusters performed and their characterization of their work as…
Ninth Circuit Creates Circuit Split Regarding FLSA Classification of Sales Advisor Position
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Department of Labor, Exemptions
Two Circuit Courts have held service advisers are exempt “salesmen” within the meaning of 29 U.S.C. 213(b)(10). But the Ninth Circuit thinks otherwise, deferring to USDOL guidance and finding the exemption inapplicable. Navarro v. Encino Motorcars, LLC, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 4773 (9th Cir. Mar. 24, 2015).
Encino Motorcars concerned the exemption applicable to…
Ninth Circuit Upholds Trial Court’s Finding Rejecting Allegation of Unpaid Sixth Day of Work Despite Absence of Employer Records
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Hours of Work, Recordkeeping
Counsel for wage-and-hour plaintiffs often argue – in settlement negotiations and in court – that the plaintiff’s burden under Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co., 328 U.S. 680, 692 (1946), applicable if there are no records of hours worked, renders the employee’s recitation of events unassailable. This position misstates the law, as reflected in…
Joining Other Circuits, Ninth Circuit Requires Specificity In FLSA Pleading
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Uncategorized
Joining sister Circuits, on Wednesday the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that an employee must set forth specific information regarding his or her work hours to properly plead an FLSA claim for unpaid minimum wages or overtime under the Iqbal doctrine. Landers v. Quality Communs., Inc., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS…
General Contractors Defeat Claim of Joint Employer Status
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Coverage
Individuals employed by subcontractors in construction (and other industries) from time to time seek to go “up the food chain” and assert that control was exerted by general contractors on their job sites sufficient to render those general contractors “joint employers” for purposes of the wage laws. The goal of couse is to hold such…
Supreme Court Accepts FLSA Certiorari Petition Regarding Pay for “Security Screening”
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Hours of Work
The Supreme Court agreed today to hear a case involving application of the Portal-to-Portal Act to employees who claim they should be compensated for time spent undergoing security screenings used to prevent employee theft. Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, Case No. 13-433. The employees allege they were required to undergo security screenings to…
Ninth Circuit Requires Reimbursement of H2A Expenses
By Noel P. Tripp on
In the latest in a series of decisions addressing the proper allocation of travel and immigration fee expenses between employers and employees utilizing the H2A agricultural guestworker program, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (the largest federal circuit, encompassing Washington, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, California, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii) ruled an employer…