American Airlines Evades Some Claims in Worker Overtime Lawsuit

American Airlines Inc. partly defeated a lawsuit alleging it failed to pay customer service representatives overtime in violation of federal law, but still must face unpaid-wage claims based on an Arizona statute.

A Fair Labor Standards Act exemption for certain airline workers blocks the federal overtime allegations, but the plaintiff sufficiently alleged a reasonable expectation of pay for the missing hours under state law, the US District Court for the District of Arizona said Wednesday. The worker previously agreed to drop minimum wage claims.

The airline’s customer relations service representatives spend approximately 15 minutes booting up their computers and logging ...