Late in the afternoon on Friday, June 28, 2024, Judge Jordan of the Eastern District of Texas – Sherman Division issued his ruling in the lawsuit filed by The State of Texas against the U.S. Department of Labor regarding the new overtime exemptions salary level regulations. He granted the State of Texas’ request for a preliminary injunction, thus staying the new DOL overtime exemption salary increases and prohibiting them from going into effect.
However, Judge Jordan issued the preliminary injunction only as to the State of Texas as an employer. Thus, the rule is only prohibited from going into effect against the State of Texas as an employer. As a result, the new rules are still scheduled to go into effect as of July 1, 2024 for all other parties and businesses.
The Court noted and referred to the related lawsuit filed by the Plano Chamber of Commerce, Texas Association of Business, and other entities, but noted that the plaintiffs in that case had not sought a preliminary injunction. We suspect they will do so now. Based on today’s ruling, Judge Jordan will of course grant that request. The only question will be whether or not he grants a broader preliminary injunction as to more than just those parties. In the order issued today, he stated that he has the authority to do so but not the requirement to do so.
So, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. There is clearly more to come and likely more court filings and orders to come but for now, the rule goes into effect for businesses on Monday.
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