After a federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas blocked the DOL’s new overtime exemption rule as it pertains to Texas state employees, another judge in the Northern District of Texas declined to issue a similar injunction in a challenge brought by tech company Flint Avenue, LLC. Without addressing the merits of the company’s challenge to the new rule, the court found that a preliminary inunction was not needed because the company did not have any exempt employees who would immediately be rendered nonexempt under the new rule on July 1, 2024. The company conceded that the one employee who it had previously identified was not exempt under the existing rule from 2019. The court determined that a preliminary injunction was not necessary as to four other employees because they would not be affected until after January 1, 2025, when the minimum exempt salary increases again to $1,128. The court stated that it would be able to rule on the merits of the company’s claims before then, making a preliminary injunction unnecessary.
While the DOL’s new overtime rule remains in effect for employers other than the State of Texas, the legal challenges will continue. We will report on further developments as they occur.