A coalition of 21 states, led by Nevada Attorney-General Adam Laxalt, has filed suit in federal court in Eastern Texas to block implementation of the new “white collar” overtime rule taking effect Dec. 1, which would raise the pay threshold for overtime exemption to $913 a week, or $47,476 a year, if implemented.
Previous lawsuits filed in Texas against Obama administration initiatives in have found success, at last temporarily. In one case — the president’s immigration executive orders of December 2014 — a temporary injunction became permanent when a divided Supreme Court locked 4 to 4 in review, leaving the Texas ruling in place.
The lawsuit claims the rule is a federal overreach that will force states to cut working hours and lay off staff. Laxalt said the rule would force “states to shift money from other important programs intended to protect the very families that purportedly benefit from such federal overreach.”
The Department of Labor (DOL), which issued the overtime rule, had no immediate comment.