In Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, 144 S. Ct. 967 (2024), the Supreme Court held that an employee challenging a job transfer under Title VII must show that the transfer brought about “some harm” with respect to an identifiable term or condition of employment, but that harm need not be significant. The case is...Read More

Effective July 1, 2024, the Department of Labor’s new independent contractor rules provide guidelines for distinguishing between employees and non-employee independent contractors, for purposes of the overtime and minimum wage requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. As explained below, the DOL rules closely parallel the test that the Fourth Circuit has historically applied in...Read More

In Bartels v. Birmingham, 332 U.S. 126, 67 S. Ct. 1547 (1947), the Supreme Court held that members of musical bands were employees of the bands’ leaders, rather than of the operators of the dance halls where the bands played, within the meaning of the Social Security Act. The Court emphasized that, inter alia, the...Read More

In Citicorp Indus. Credit, Inc. v. Brock, 483 U.S. 27, 107 S. Ct. 2694 (1987) the Supreme Court held that the Fair Labor Standards Act’s prohibition on selling “hot goods” applies to secured creditors who acquire the goods pursuant to a security agreement, even when the creditor itself did not engage in an FLSA violation. Statutory Background...Read More

In Groff v. DeJoy, 600 U.S. 447, 143 S.Ct. 2279 (2023), the Supreme Court held that for an employer to deny a religious accommodation for an employee as an undue hardship under Title VII, the employer must show that granting an accommodation would result in substantial increased costs for its particular business. The case is important...Read More

In United States v. Silk, 331 U.S. 704 (1947), the Supreme Court applied a multi-factor test for determining whether workers were independent contractors or employees. The case is important because, inter alia, these “Silk factors” came to be applied in cases under the Fair Labor Standards Act to determine whether the economic realities show that workers are “employees” for...Read More

In Goldberg v. Whitaker House Co-op., Inc., 366 U.S. 28, 81 S. Ct. 933, 6 L. Ed. 2d 100 (1961), the Supreme Court held that members of a knitting cooperative who performed “homework,” were paid on a piece-rate basis to make items for the co-op, and who were subject to expulsion for substandard work, were “employees”...Read More

In United States v. Darby, 312 U.S. 100, 61 S. Ct. 451 (1941), the Supreme Court held that Congress had power under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution to enact the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The Court held that the Commerce Clause permitted Congress, through the FLSA, to regulate the working conditions of employers...Read More

In Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Ass’n, 575 U.S. 92, 135 S. Ct. 1199 (2015), the Supreme Court held that an agency, like the Department of Labor, is not required to use notice-and-comment procedures when it wishes to issue a new interpretation of a regulation that deviates significantly from one the agency has previously adopted. The...Read More

In Mitchell v. Kentucky Finance Co., 359 U.S. 290 (1959) the Supreme Court held that the business of making personal loans to individuals does not constitute “sales of . . . services” by a “retail or service establishment,” within the meaning of the retail and service establishment exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act. This...Read More