On January 15, the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in E.M.D. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera, No. 23-217, 2025 WL 96207 (U.S. Jan. 15, 2025) holing the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) exemptions do not call for heightened evidence standards.
Plaintiffs, sales representatives for a distributor of international food products, brought an FLSA action for unpaid overtime alleging that employer misclassified them as exempt. Applying a clear and convincing standard, the district court held their employer failed to establish they qualified as outside salesmen exempt from FLSA. The court awarded back overtime and and liquidated damages. The Fourth Circuit affirmed the ruling.
In a unanimous opinion written by Justice Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court held that the preponderance of the evidence standard applies when an employer seeks to show that an employee is exempt from the overtime requirements of the FLSA. Justice Kavanaugh explained that deviations from the preponderance of the evidence standard in civil litigation in only three scenarios: (1) when a statute requires it; (2) when the Constitution requires it; and (3) when the government otherwise seeks to take “unusual coercive action” against an individual.
