A 21-state coalition, led by Texas and Nevada, has filed suit in federal court against the federal government challenging the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) new Overtime Rule. The Overtime Rule doubles the salary threshold under which workers qualify for overtime pay, from $455 per week to $913 per week.
DOL Secretary Tom Perez responded to the lawsuit with a statement expressing confidence in the legality of the Rule. He suggested that efforts to stop it were partisan. “Despite the sound legal and policy footing on which the rule is constructed, the same interests that have stood in the way of middle-class Americans getting paid when they work extra are continuing their obstructionist tactics,” Perez said.
The lawsuit specifically claims that the rule is too broad because it is based on the salary threshold. This requirement, the states argue, overlooks the fact that some workers in the salary range perform management duties that would make them ineligible for overtime. The states are seeking an injunction to prevent the Rule from taking effect. Texas and Nevada are being joined in the lawsuit by Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin.
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