Trump Labor Department appeals ruling that blocked Biden overtime pay rule

By Daniel Wiessner

Feb 28 (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Friday moved to revive a Biden-era U.S. Department of Labor regulation that would have extended mandatory overtime pay to 4 million salaried workers but has been struck down by two judges.

The Labor Department filed a notice of appeal in Lubbock, Texas, federal court of U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings' December ruling that said the rule improperly based eligibility for overtime pay on workers' salaries rather than their job duties. The case was brought by Flint Avenue, a small marketing firm.

The Trump administration is expected to revisit and possibly scrap the 2024 rule, which was opposed by business groups and many Republicans. But appealing the decision allows the Labor Department to defend its ability to set a salary threshold for overtime eligibility, which it has done since the 1930s through Republican and Democratic administrations.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which is defending the rule, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sheng Li of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, which represents Flint Avenue, said the group expected the appeal after the Labor Department appealed an earlier loss in a lawsuit by Texas last year.

The appeal will be heard by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled last September in a separate case that the Labor Department can use workers' salaries as a proxy for their duties. Federal wage law exempts workers with "executive, administrative, or professional" duties from overtime pay.

That case involved a challenge to a rule adopted in 2019 during President Donald Trump's first term that raised the salary threshold to about $35,500. That rule replaced an Obama-era regulation raising the threshold to $47,500 that was struck down in court.

The main question in Flint Avenue's case will be whether the 2024 rule, which raised the salary threshold to about $58,600, went too far.

That was the claim by Flint, as well as Texas and several business groups in a separate lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan in Sherman, Texas, agreed in November in the state's lawsuit and permanently struck down the rule. Cummings followed suit, citing Jordan's decision in a brief order.

The Labor Department under the administration of Democratic former President Joe Biden appealed Jordan's decision to the 5th Circuit in November. Earlier this week, the agency asked for more time to file an opening brief in that case "due to the recent change in administration."

The case is Flint Avenue v. U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, No. 5:24-cv-00130.

For Flint Avenue: Sheng Li and John Vecchione of the New Civil Liberties Alliance; and Karen Cook

For the Department of Labor: Brian Rosen-Shaud of the U.S. Department of Justice

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