District Courts Make Plain Mistake In Applying A Heightened Burden Of Proof For Establishing An FLSA Exemption

Employers seeking to prove that an employee claiming unpaid overtime is exempt under the FLSA often face two chilling phrases in the first paragraph of a court’s legal analysis.  First, that exemptions are “narrowly construed” against employers and, second, that employers must prove that employees fit within those exemptions “plainly and unmistakably.”   But two recent decisions show that those two phrases may not be so daunting anymore.  Last month, in Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., the Supreme Court made clear that not all definitions of an exemption are to be narrowly construed against employers.  And last week, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a jury verdict in favor of an employee challenging his exempt status because the trial court erroneously instructed the jury that an employer has to prove that an employee “plainly and unmistakably” fits within the terms of an exemption.

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