The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.
This week, we highlight cert petitions that ask the court to consider, among other things, whether two groups of North Carolina employees were denied pay or benefits by the state in violation of a federal employment law and the Constitution.
Emergency Medical Services employees in Cleveland County, North Carolina, work long shifts, and as a result are eligible for a mix of “straight-time” and overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act. County EMS employees are salaried based on an hourly rate that complies with the FLSA. In calculating that hourly rate, however, the county includes all time worked by EMS employees, both straight-time and overtime hours. EMS employee Sara Conner sued the county in federal district court, arguing that this formula violates the FLSA by artificially deflating the effective straight-time wage she was promised in her salary – known in employment law as a “gap-time” claim.
Siding with Conner and a group of EMS employees, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit viewed the FLSA as “silent” on the question of gap-time wages. To resolve the stalemate, the court granted deference under Skidmore v. Swift & Co. to a regulation by the Department of Labor that reads the act in the employees’ favor. Under Skidmore deference – a more lenient standard than the more widely...
Delhi Police has rejected allegations that Congress leader Deepender Hooda or any other politician has been placed under house arrest, describing the reports as misleading and baseless. The police...