The FLSA provides that administrative employees are exempt from overtime pay. The FLSA described an administrative employee as one who 1) is paid a salary of at least $455 per week; 2) primarily performs work related to management; and 3) performs duties which primarily require the exercise of discretion and independent judgement. In Lutz v. … Continue Reading
Just over a year ago, we examined the propensity of the Sixth Circuit to uphold district courts’ decisions to grant summary judgment for employers in cases tagged as “Labor & Employment” cases. As can be seen in our 2014 review, the Sixth Circuit upheld 60% of summary judgment decisions in favor of the employer. We … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit held yesterday in Vander Boegh v. EnergySolutions, Inc. that a job applicant is not considered an “employee” under the False Claims Act and the Energy Reorganization Act, and therefore cannot avail himself of the Acts’ retaliation provisions. The plaintiff, a former landfill manager who had reported environmental violations at his prior job, alleged … Continue Reading
A divided panel of the Sixth Circuit held yesterday in Moyer v. Met. Life Ins. Co. that an employee was entitled to bring suit against after the contractual limitations period in his ERISA-governed long term disability plan had expired, because the claim administrator failed to include the time limit for judicial review in the benefit revocation … Continue Reading
Siding with the Fifth, Ninth and Second (unpublished) Circuits in a longstanding circuit split, the Sixth Circuit in United States ex rel. Paige v. BAE Sys. Tech. recently distinguished between disputes “arising under” and “related to” a contract for arbitration purposes. The Sixth Circuit held that an arbitration clause mandating arbitration of “any dispute arising from this Agreement” … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit recently published yet another opinion to clarify the role of temporal proximity in the analysis of an employee retaliation claim. When an employee engages in protected activity, such as reporting unlawful harassment, and faces an adverse employment action shortly thereafter, the “temporal proximity” between the two events serves as evidence of causation … Continue Reading
In a 9-0 decision yesterday, the Supreme Court reversed the Sixth Circuit and affirmed a religious body’s right to make employment decisions free from government intervention. It was the Supreme Court’s first decision on the ministerial exception to employment discrimination laws. The plaintiff was a “called teacher” within the Lutheran Church, where part of her … Continue Reading
Yesterday, the Sixth Circuit reversed a decision compelling arbitration in an employment dispute, Hergenreder v. Bickford Senior Living Group, LLC. A foundational principle of the FAA is consent to arbitration, and in this case, the Sixth Circuit could not find evidence of that consent. The employee had received a copy of the employment handbook, which … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit continues to liberally define the “actual knowledge” required to trigger the 3-year ERISA statute of limitations and, in doing so, affirmed summary judgment in favor of the defendants in Brown v. Owens Corning Investment Review (Case No. 09-3692). The Court confirmed its earlier rejection in Wright v. Heyne, 349 F.3d 321 (6th Cir. 2003) of the … Continue Reading
On December 7, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Thompson v. North American Stainless, LP (U.S. Sup. Ct., Case No. 09-291), which presents the question of whether § 704(a) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a) (PDF), creates a cause of action for third-party retaliation for … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit yesterday joined a majority of Circuit Courts in interpreting the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201, et seq. on the issue of time spent by employees in putting on and removing uniforms and equipment at work. See Franklin v. Kellogg Co. (6th Cir., Case No. 09-5880, Aug. 31, 2010) … Continue Reading
