Time spent by employees in meal and other breaks continues to prompt litigation against public and private sector employers. In a recent decision, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that corrections officers at a Pennsylvania prison failed to allege a violation of the FLSA by challenging the County’s failure to compensate them
Third Circuit
New Jersey Judge Reiterates That FLSA Does Not Protect “Gap Time”
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Damages, Hours of Work
The FLSA generally governs only the payment of minimum wages and overtime. It does not govern unpaid wage claims that do not result in a minimum wage or overtime violation—e.g., a claim brought by an employee that he worked 39 hours, but was only paid for 35 (sometimes referred to as a “gap time” claim).…
Third Circuit Upholds Ruling That Low Volume Of Interstate Travel By Employees Does Not Impact Application of Motor Carrier Exemption
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
Affirming a ruling from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit last week confirmed that drivers for a motor coach company remained exempt under the motor carrier exemption, notwithstanding the relatively low volume of interstate transit and related revenue generated by the company’s interstate routes. Resch v. Krapf’s Coaches…
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…
Third Circuit Joins Second Circuit In Rejecting Vague Pleadings of FLSA Violations
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Litigation
The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has joined the Second Circuit’s recent opinions requiring plaintiffs in FLSA cases to provide more than generalized allegations regarding hours worked in order to satisfy the the Supreme Court’s Iqbal/Twombly standard (all arising in the medical setting). Davis v. Abington Mem. Hosp., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS…
Following Third Circuit Precedent, Pennsylvania Federal Judge Finds Pharmaceutical Representatives Are Exempt Administrative Employees
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
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…
Two Circuit Courts Expansively Interpret The Administrative Exemption
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
The applicability of the FLSA’s “administrative” exemption continues to be a primary issue in a significant percentage of the cases comprising the ongoing wave of wage and hour litigation. Recently, two appellate courts, the Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Third Circuits, issued new opinions endorsing a broader interpretation of this exemption.
In Verkuilen v. …
Federal Court Rules Bank of America Is Not “Joint Employer” of Call Center Workers
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Coverage
Businesses that outsource specific functions are often subject to allegations that they are a joint employer of the employees of the outsourced entity. A Pennsylvania District Court recently rejected this theory of liability and dismissed Bank of America from a lawsuit brought by call center employees employed by a vendor servicing Bank of America, who alleged…
Third Circuit Affirms Application of 7(i) Overtime Exemption To Sales Associates
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
As discussed here and here, the FLSA provides an exemption for employees who 1) are employed by a “retail or service establishment”; 2) earn at least 1.5 the minimum wage for all hours worked; and, 3) earn more than 50% of their compensation in a representative period from commissions. In July 2009, a federal district…
Will Supreme Court Elect to Resolve Scope of Outside Sales and Administrative Exemptions?
By Noel P. Tripp on
Posted in Exemptions
In a much-awaited decision, earlier this week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a New York District Court and held that pharmaceutical sales representatives are not exempt outside sales or administrative employees. In re Novartis Wage & Hour Litig., No. 09-0437-cv, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 13708 (2d Cir. July 6…