Executive Summary: On July 1, 2024, the federal court for the Northern District of Texas issued a decision in Flint Avenue, LLC v. U.S. Department of Labor, denying the plaintiff employer’s request for a nationwide preliminary injunction, finding that the small employer, who had only one employee who would potentially be affected by the DOL’s July 1, 2024 salary increase, did not show irreparable harm.
Meanwhile, in the newly consolidated case of State of Texas, Plano Chamber of Commerce, et al. v. U.S. Department of Labor, pending in the Eastern District of Texas, no additional plaintiffs have filed a motion seeking a nationwide preliminary injunction. On June 28, 2024, Eastern District of Texas Judge Sean D. Jordan enjoined the DOL’s 2024 Salary Rule on Texas’s motion for preliminary injunction, but stopped short of issuing a nationwide injunction that would also apply to private employers. Judge Jordan enjoined the 2024 Salary Rule only with respect to public employees of the State of Texas. Following that ruling, Judge Jordan then consolidated Texas’s case with another challenge brought by a multi-plaintiff coalition of employer groups and national trade associations. That group of plaintiffs, however, have not filed a request for preliminary injunction, and it is unclear at this time whether they intend to do so. On July 1, 2024, Judge Jordan issued an order stating that he anticipates resolving the claims via cross-motions for summary judgment and directing the parties to submit a proposed schedule for summary judgment briefing by July 8, 2024. Accordingly, as of July 1, 2024, the DOL’s 2024 Salary Rule is fully in effect for private employers and for public employers other than the State of Texas.
The Bottom Line
Given these developments and the lack of a new motion seeking a nationwide preliminary injunction since our Legal Alert dated July 1, 2024, we are altering our previous advice. We now recommend that employers either raise the salary level for employees classified as exempt from overtime under the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions to the new July 1 minimum level of $43,888 annually or reclassify them as non-exempt employees. It is likely one or both federal courts in Texas will issue a decision on the merits of the DOL’s 2024 Salary Rule before the next salary increase scheduled to take effect January 1, 2025.
