Colt & Joe Trucking v. Department of Labor

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to provide minimum wages and other benefits to “employees.” Often, however, employers misclassify employees as independent contractors. In 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a regulation setting forth a view about how to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor for purposes of the FLSA that departed from the longstanding approach used by DOL and courts. In 2024, DOL issued a new regulation, rescinding the 2021 regulation and setting out the factors that the agency would consider moving forward.

A business challenged the 2024 regulation in a New Mexico district court, arguing that it is arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law. It also argued that the Rule was invalid because it was issued while the Deputy Secretary of Labor was serving as Acting Secretary of Labor. The parties cross-moved for summary judgment.

On behalf of Public Citizen and the National Employment Law Project (NELP), we filed an amicus brief supporting DOL. The brief explains that misclassification of workers is a significant problem, that the 2021 regulation risked exacerbating that problem, and that the 2024 regulation was a reasonable step to eliminate that increased risk.

Similar cases are pending in district courts in Georgia, Tennessee and Texas, and in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where we also filed as amicus curiae.