While the compensability of time spent in internship programs continues to be an hotly contested litigation issue, the United States Supreme Court has declined an opportunity to provide clarity in this area, denying certiorari to a Florida medical billing intern whose claim was rejected last year by the Eleventh Circuit. Kaplan v. Code Blue
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Supreme Court Declines to Review Nurse’s Claim of Off-the-Clock Work In Contravention of Policy
Letting stand a decision of the Court of Appeals of the Sixth Circuit, the Supreme Court has denied review of an emergency room nurse’s claim for overtime based on work allegedly performed during unpaid meal breaks. White v. Baptist Mem’l Health Care Corp., U.S., No. 13-107, cert. denied 10/7/13. Plaintiff urged the Supreme Court to…
Supreme Court Upholds Mandatory Individualized Arbitration
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday reaffirmed and expanded upon its prior rulings concerning arbitration agreements which require the parties to waive any rights they may have to participate in a class action. In Am. Express Co. v. Italian Colors Rest., 2013 U.S. LEXIS 4700 (U.S. June 20, 2013), the Supreme Court ruled that an…
5-4 Supreme Court Affirms Dismissal of Collective Action Based on Employer’s Settlement Offer
Issuing its second sharply divided procedural opinion in as many months with ramifications for wage-and-hour practitioners, the Supreme Court yesterday ruled that a Pennsylvania nursing facility’s “offer of judgment,” which would have provided full relief to the sole putative collective action representative, effectively “mooted” her case. Accordingly, no collective action could proceed even though the…
Supreme Court Accepts Review In FLSA “Donning/Doffing” Case
On February 21, 2013, the United States Supreme Court granted another FLSA certiorari petition, in the matter of Sandifer v. United States Steel Corp. In the underlying litigation in Sandifer, the plaintiffs sought compensation under the FLSA for time spent donning and doffing certain protective gear. Although the time spent donning…
New USDOL Fact Sheet Discusses FLSA Retaliation
Reflecting the Supreme Court’s 2011 decision regarding the scope of protected activity under the FLSA, the U.S. Department of Labor has issued Fact Sheet 77A, summarizing the Department’s view of the FLSA’s anti-retaliation provision. Simultaneously, the Department also issued fact sheets addressing retaliation under the FMLA and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker…
Supreme Court To Decide Classification of Pharmaceutical Representatives
The Supreme Court’s web site confirms that the nation’s highest court has granted the petition for certiorari filed by the pharmaceutical sales representative (PSR) plaintiffs in Christopher et al. v. SmithKline Beecham Corporation. The Court will now review the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in Christopher that SmithKline properly classifies its pharmaceutical sales representatives as "outside …
Following Third Circuit Precedent, Pennsylvania Federal Judge Finds Pharmaceutical Representatives Are Exempt Administrative Employees
As the pharmaceutical community eagerly awaits the Supreme Court’s decision whether to grant certiorari in Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., courts within the Third Circuit (encompassing Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware) continue to conform to the appeals court’s previous holding in Smith v. Johnson & Johnson, 593 F.3d 280 (3d Cir. 2010), that…
Another Petition for Certiorari to US Supreme Court Filed Seeking Clarity As to FLSA Status of PSR’s
As often discussed in this space and elsewhere, Courts continue to widely differ in their analysis as to whether the administrative and/or outside sales exemptions are applicable to pharmaceutical sales representatives. Now, the Supreme Court will have another opportunity to weigh in on the applicability of the outside sales exemption to such employees, as the plaintiffs…
Supreme Court Issues Ruling on Oral Complaints of Retaliation, Refuses to Clarify Where Employee Must Complain
While the US Supreme Court recently has rejected petitions for certiorari on key FLSA exemption issues, the highest court in the United States did this term elect to take up the scope of the statute’s protection of workers who make complaints of FLSA violations to their employer. As discussed in greater detail here…