CARSON CITY, Nev. (Legal Newsline) — Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced Jan. 17 that he will oppose the Department of Labor’s appeal after its new overtime rule received a preliminary injunction.
A federal district court had ordered the preliminary injunction, which the department appealed. Laxalt filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in response to the appeal. The brief, written on the behalf of 21 states, alleges the court correctly enjoined the department’s law. The court had decided that the law, which would have gone into effect Dec. 1, exceeds its statutory authority under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
“The Department of Labor’s new overtime rule is another blatant example of an unrestrained federal agency under this executive administration attempting to substitute its judgment for the law actually passed by Congress,” Laxalt said.
“Federal law clearly requires an overtime exemption for ‘any bona fide executive, administrative and professional’ employee, and the rule will seriously impact not only the budgets and priorities of the sovereign states but also millions of small businesses across the nation. I am hopeful and expectant that any court to review this law will reach the same conclusion and I am proud to be leading the fight against this especially intrusive, unlawful federal overreach.”