On Tuesday, November 22nd, U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the Department of Labor’s rule raising the salary threshold for the white collar exemptions, which was to take effect on December 1st. Judge Mazzant sits in Sherman, Texas, and granted the motion filed by lawyers for 21 states, including Nevada and Texas. The rule is enjoined “pending further order of this Court,” but a preliminary injunction is ordinarily in effect until trial unless the case is disposed of before that. Although the court’s reasoning would seem to invalidate both the “salary basis” test and any salary level requirement, the court only enjoined the new rule setting a salary threshold of $47,476 a year, leaving in effect the current threshold of $23,660 a year. The Department of Labor says it is considering all of its legal options, one of which is to ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to stay Judge Mazzant’s order.
