Also known as: FLSA · Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A federal statute enacted in 1938 that establishes minimum wage, overtime compensation, and child labor standards for covered employees. The statute sets a floor that employers must meet and prohibits shipment in interstate commerce of goods produced in violation of its wage and hour rules.
Forrest Falconer and other probation officers employed by the State of Maine filed suit in state court alleging that the state had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay them overtime. The state moved to dismiss on sovereign immunity grounds. The court dismissed the action because Congress lacked power under Article I to subject nonconsenting states to private damages suits in their own courts.
Francois Fortier and other employees of a state transit authority sued their employer for overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The state defended on the ground that the statute could not constitutionally reach traditional state functions. The court rejected the defense and allowed the claims to proceed because Congress may extend the statute to state and local governments under the Commerce Clause.
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Felix Franco, a high school student, was charged under a federal statute prohibiting possession of a firearm in a school zone. He moved to dismiss on the ground that the statute exceeded Congress's commerce power. The court dismissed the indictment because the statute neither regulated channels or instrumentalities of commerce nor addressed activity that substantially affects interstate commerce.
Freya Freeman sued her former employer under federal antidiscrimination law after being fired. During discovery the employer learned that Freeman had falsified her resume. The court held that the after-acquired evidence did not bar all relief but limited back pay to the date the employer discovered the misconduct.
Francesca Fowler, a newspaper reporter, refused to disclose confidential sources to a grand jury investigating criminal activity. She was held in contempt. The court upheld the contempt citation because the First Amendment does not grant reporters a privilege to withhold information from a grand jury when the information is relevant to a criminal investigation.
Felicia Fuentes was charged with stealing government property after taking spent shell casings from a firing range. She argued that she believed the casings had been abandoned. The court reversed her conviction because the statute required proof that she knew the property belonged to the United States at the time of the taking.
State sovereign immunity prevents private suits against nonconsenting states in their own courts on federal claims such as Fair Labor Standards Act claims when Congress acts under Article I powers. Congress cannot subject states to private damages actions in state court without their consent.
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Congress has power under the Commerce Clause to extend the Fair Labor Standards Act to state and local governments. States are protected from inappropriate federal regulation primarily through their participation in the federal political process rather than through judicially defined limits on federal power.
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A state employee may obtain prospective injunctive relief against a state officer under Ex parte Young but cannot recover money damages from the state itself because of sovereign immunity. Parallel actions in state court are likewise barred absent consent.
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…are within Congress' power to regulate. Id. , at 37. In United States v. Darby , 312 U. S. 100 (1941), the Court upheld the Fair Labor Standards Act, stating: "The power of Congress over interstate commerce is not confined to the regulation of commerce among the states. It extends to those activities intrastate which so affect…