Just Energy Marketing Corp., et al. v. Davina Hurt, Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, et al.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exempts from its minimum wage and overtime requirements any employee who is employed “in the capacity of outside salesman.” FLSA regulations define “outside salesman” as an employee “whose primary duty is making sales,” and the FLSA itself defines “sale” broadly to “include[] any sale, exchange, contract to sell, consignment for sale, shipment for sale, or other disposition.” Petitioners employed Respondents to go door to door and persuade customers to buy natural gas and electricity. When customers agreed, they signed agreements, which were subject to certain regulatory checks and Petitioners’ ultimate approval before the sales were consummated. In a divided decision, the Sixth Circuit held that Respondents are not exempt outside salespeople under the FLSA because their sales agreements were subject to those subsequent steps. That decision contradicts this Court’s decision in Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 567 U.S. 142 (2012), and directly conflicts with a Second Circuit decision holding that, consistent with Christopher, Petitioners’ door-to-door solicitors are exempt outside salespeople. The decision below thus creates a wholly untenable circuit split within Petitioners’ own workforce. The question presented is: Whether, as the Second Circuit held, Petitioners’ door-to-door solicitors are exempt “outside salesmen” under the FLSA or, as the Sixth Circuit held, Petitioners’ door-to-door solicitors are not exempt “outside salesmen” under the FLSA because the sales agreements remain subject to regulatory checks and Petitioners’ ultimate approval.