LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAWS

Issues

Respondent Robert McBride, a railroad engineer for Petitioner CSX Transportation Inc. (“CSX”), sued CSX under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (“FELA”), claiming that CSX was responsible for a hand injury that McBride suffered while operating the brakes of a train. In its appeal of the jury’s verdict in favor of McBride, CSX alleges that proximate causation is required for recovery under FELA. McBride contends that proximate causation is not the proper standard of causation, based on recent rulings made by the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeals. CSX also argues that public policy supports use of a proximate cause standard, while McBride argues that requiring proximate causation actually discourages employers from maintaining safe workplaces. The Supreme Court’s ruling will elucidate the proper standard of causation required under FELA.

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Issues

The issue in this case involves whether the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (“FLSA”) overtime-pay exemption for “any salesman, partsman, or mechanic primarily engaged in selling or servicing automobiles,” contained in 29 U.S.C. § 213(b)(10)(A), also exempts service advisors. Encino Motorcars argues that the plain language and structure of § 213(b)(10)(A) unambiguously exempt service advisors from the FLSA’s overtime requirements. Navarro argues that the plain language and structure of § 213(b)(10)(A) clearly do not exempt service advisors from the FLSA’s overtime requirements and that Congress’s intent in enacting the exemption and the FLSA as a whole support this interpretation. From a policy perspective, this case is significant because a decision favoring Navarro could force dealerships across the United States to alter their payment systems for service advisors, of which there are around 100,000. Such an outcome could also expose dealerships to retroactive liability and back-pay in order to settle FLSA claims concerning overtime. 

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Jesse Busk and Laurie Castro, employees of Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. (“Integrity”), sued Integrity alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Specifically, the employees alleged that Integrity required post-shift security screenings lasting up to 25 minutes, yet failed to compensate their employees for the time spent undergoing the screenings. Integrity claims that it is immune from liability under the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947, which provides that employers are not required to compensate for activities that are postliminary to an employee’s primary work activities. The Supreme Court will address whether under the FLSA, as amended by the Portal-to-Portal Act, employers must compensate employees for post-shift security screenings.  The Supreme Court’s decision in the case will reflect its view on the correct balance between the interest of employers in preventing employee theft, and the interest of employees in obtaining compensation for time spent undergoing screenings related to theft prevention or similar activities. This decision will affect the range of activities that employers can require employees to perform with and without compensation. 

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