EMD Sales, Inc. v. Carrera, 604 U.S. ___, 2025 WL 96207 (2025)
The question in this case is what standard of proof an employer must satisfy in defending against claims asserted under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Several EMD sales representatives sued the company for violating the FLSA by failing to pay them overtime. EMD defended against the claims on the ground that the employees were exempt from overtime under the FLSA’s outside-sales exemption. The lower courts held that EMD needed to prove its case under the “clear-and-convincing” evidence standard, which is higher than the “preponderance-of-the-evidence” standard that is (according to the Supreme Court) the “default standard of proof in American civil litigation.” The Supreme Court reversed the lower court (specifically, the Fourth Circuit) and held that the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard does indeed apply and that the higher standard only applies when mandated by a statute, the Constitution, or in “other uncommon cases” in which the government seeks to take “unusual coercive action” against an individual. The Supreme Court’s holding is consistent with long-standing law in the Ninth Circuit. See Coast Van Lines, Inc. v. Armstrong, 167 F.2d 705 (9th Cir. 1948).