Because most FLSA exemptions are affirmative defenses, their applicability is not often established by the Plaintiff’s Complaint, of which s/he is “master” and can shape to avoid addressing exemption-triggering duties. There are exceptions. In a recent opinion, a Manhattan federal district judge ruled that a commissioned salesman who traveled from his home office to
primary duty
New York Federal Court: Employee at Parts Company Is Exempt Outside Salesperson
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
An employee for an automotive and truck parts company is an exempt outside salesperson under the FLSA and the New York Labor Law, despite allegations that he was only a service technician, the Court for the Eastern District of New York rules. Domenech v. Parts Auth., Inc., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101214 (E.D.N.Y. Aug.…
Third Circuit: Racing To Disaster Location Constituted “Outside Sales”
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
As we have written before the outside sales exemption is arguably one of the more straight-forward FLSA exemptions, having only two requirements: 1) having as the primary duty making sales or obtaining orders; and 2) doing so away from the employer’s place or places of business “customarily and regularly.” Nevertheless, this simple test can be…
Eastern District of Virginia Judge Cacheris Expands Upon “Customarily and Regularly Away” Prong Of Outside Salesperson Analysis
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
Following-up on his decision on January 7th granting summary judgment to Prospect Mortgage regarding the applicability of the outside sales exemption to one loan officer, Judge James C. Cacheris of the Eastern District of Virginia has issued two more decisions on similar motions for summary judgment by the employer, granting a second one and…
District Court Finds that Personnel Supervisor Is Exempt Executive
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
Rejecting a challenge to classification as an exempt supervisor in a warehouse setting District Court Judge James C. Turk of the Western District of Virginia ruled last week that a “personnel supervisor” in a tire production plant qualified for the FLSA’s executive exemption because “the vast majority of his time was spent in management-type functions”…
Fifth Circuit Upholds Outside Sales Classification
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
The FLSA’s “outside sales” exemption from minimum wage and overtime is among the more straightforward exemptions, in that it contains only two requirements: that the employee be “customarily and regularly” away from the employer’s place of business; and that the employee primarily be engaged in making sales. This simple-sounding test does not preclude disputes regarding its…
New York Federal Court Finds Questions of Fact Exist as to Whether “Assistant” or “Co” Managers at Drug Chain Are Properly Classified as Exempt Employees
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
The most recent installment in the continuing saga concerning the exempt status of various managerial titles in the retail industry involves a group of plaintiffs referred to by their employer (the drug chain Rite Aid) as “Co-Managers” and by plaintiffs as “Assistant Managers.” Judge Paul Gardephe of the United States District Court for the Southern…
Tenth Circuit: District Court Improperly Analyzed Exemption Status of Los Alamos Security Officers
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
Even when employers successfully prevail on exemption defenses at the trial court level, such victories often do not signal the end of litigation –as evidenced by the recent decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which reversed a summary judgment decision upholding an employer’s application of the executive exemption. Maestas …
New York Federal Court Finds Gas Station and Convenience Store Manager To Be An Exempt Executive
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
The subject of many FLSA actions is store managers and whether they are properly classified as exempt employees. In a recent victory for the employer community, Judge Glenn Suddaby of the Northern District of New York held as a matter of law that Express Mart properly classified its store manager in Cato, New York as exempt. …
Store Managers Are Always Exempt – Aren’t They?
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
In a case involving retailer Dollar General, another federal judge has refused to hold as a matter of law that a retail store manager is an overtime-exempt “executive” for purposes of the FLSA. Judge James Jones denied summary judgment to Dollar General in Hale v. Dolgencorp, Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62584 (W.D. Va.