Jury Must Decide If FLSA Retail Exemption Plugs Plumbing Technicians’ Wage Claims

A jury must decide whether two plumbing technicians in Florida are exempt from overtime and minimum wage payments under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s retail or service establishment exemption for commissioned employees, a federal judge ruled Feb. 17 (Rodriguez v. Home Heroes, LLC, M.D. Fla., 8:13-cv-02711-RAL-AEP, 2/17/15).

Granting summary judgment in part for Home Heroes LLC, which does business as Plumbing Rescue, and owner Harold J. Meyers, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida rejected the technicians’ argument that the company is a plumbing contractor that lacks a “retail concept” for purposes of the ...