Lumry v. State

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The Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s (KBI) official overtime policy requires monetary compensation at one-and-a-half times the normal hourly rate for hours worked in excess of eighty hours in a two-week period. Plaintiff, a former KBI agent, claimed that the Bureau pressured personnel to work overtime without claiming the overtime, in violation of the wage and hour law, and that he was fired in retaliation for complaining about this. The district court granted summary judgment for Defendants. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals and vacated the district court’s judgment on those issues subject to review, holding (1) Plaintiff’s complaint about unpaid overtime was sufficient to preclude summary judgment as to whether he engaged in a protected activity; (2) Kansas law recognizes retaliatory discharge as a common-law tort when an employee is fired for invoking rights under either the Fair Labor Standards Act or the Kansas Minimum Wage and Maximum Hours Law; and (3) the court of appeals erred in sua sponte addressing the adequate alternative remedy question. View "Lumry v. State" on Justia Law