U.S. Supreme Court Issues Ruling on Standard of Evidentiary Proof for Employers to Establish Affirmative Defense for FLSA Overtime Exemptions

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On 1/15/25, in E.M.D. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling on the amount of evidence an employer needs to prove it correctly classified employees as salaried exempt from minimum wage and overtime pay regulations under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The Supreme Court held that the "preponderance of evidence" standard applies when an employer tries to prove the affirmative defense that an employee is properly classified as exempt from the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime pay provisions. Deviation from this standard can occur when the applicable statute calls for a heightened standard (but the FLSA does not); when the Constitution mandates a heightened standard; or in rare situations involving coercive government action (i.e., taking away a person’s citizenship (which did not apply):

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-217_9o6b.pdf

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