The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in the same court that enjoined an Obama-era overtime rule, saying “the Department has done it again.”
Published May 23, 2024 - HR Dive
Caroline Colvin, Reporter
The plaintiffs in this case - including the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the Associated Builders and Contractors, the National Association of Convenience Stores, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Retail Federation, the Plano Chamber of Commerce and the Restaurant Law Center - maintain that the changes proposed by DOL ignore legal precedent and the needs of corporate America.
Per the filing, DOL’s “new salary threshold is so high that it is no longer a plausible proxy for delimiting which jobs” count as executive, administrative or professional jobs.
The group filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas - the same court that blocked a previous overtime rule from the Obama administration in 2017. "Plaintiffs are back before this Court because the Department has done it again," they said.
The challenge is just the latest the Biden administration is facing as it works to promulgate a number of employment regulations and guidances during an election year. DOL is already defending a recently updated independent contractor rule.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is likewise facing legal challenges. Alongside 17 other states, Tennessee earlier this month challenged EEOC guidance on gender identity. In that instance, plaintiffs argued that the EEOC misinterpreted the Supreme Court’s Bostock v. Clayton County decision. Likewise, Tennessee is also leading the charge on challenging the EEOC’s pregnancy accommodation guidance