Case: Wage & Hour/FLSA Preemption (5th Cir.)

The Fifth Circuit ruled the state law tort claims of nearly 900 current and former Mississippi Department of Corrections employees that their wages were miscalculated and they were denied pay for overtime hours worked were properly dismissed, as preempted by the Fair Labor Standards Act. The FLSA provides workers with a claim for minimum and overtime wages, the court said, and therefore the MDOC workers’ claims of negligence, emotional distress, conversion, conspiracy, res ipsa loquitur, and reckless disregard for worker rights were barred because they seek unpaid wages. The court rejected the workers’ contention that some of their tort allegations ...