Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case On Scope of FLSA Outside Sales Exemption

 If your employer has categorized you as an "outside sales" rep and you are, therefore, not entitled to overtime pay, then this is a case you will want to be following.  The U.S. Supreme Court, ("SCOTUS") has agreed to hear Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham, to decide whether outside pharmaceutical reps are exempt from the overtime requirements of the FLSA.

Specifically, the Court has taken the case to decide the following issues:

1. Whether deference is owed to the Secretary of Labor's interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act's outside sales exemption and related regulations; and 
2. Whether the Fair Labor Standards Act's outside sales exemption applies to pharmaceutical sales representatives.

 Issue number 2 is going to get all of the attention from the media and most laypeople.  However, the first issue - what deference is due a federal agency by the Court - is what most lawyers will be following.  Agencies and the regulations they issue affect all of us in our daily lives.  Given the ever-increasing impotence of Congress to get anything done, agencies are likely to be given even more opportunities to issue regulations (which work like laws to you and me) about important areas of our business and personal lives.  Is this good or bad?  Opinions vary.

These regulations must then be interpreted to fit individual factual situations.  Arguing about what regulations mean in a particular context is a big part of what lawyers and judges do.  This case strikes right at the heart of that work.  The Court's decision will either strengthen the authority of an agency to interpret its own regulations or possibly require an agency to go through a more cumbersome rule-making procedure before it can change an interpretation. 

Court Documents:

• Supreme Court Docket
• 9th Circuit Opinion
• Petition for Certiorari 
• Respondent's Brief

Read More:

• SCOTUS will hear FLSA pharma sales rep case – LawMemo Employment Law Blog
• Supreme Court to hear case on scope of outside sales exemption -- Ohio Employer's Law Blog
• SCOTUS Grants Cert. in FLSA Case – Lawffice Space
• Supreme Court To Decide Whether Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives Meet The FLSA’s Outside Sales Exemption – Wage and Hour Litigation Blog
• Pharmaceutical Sales Representative Case Goes to Supreme Court – from Wage & Hour Insights