Scobey v. General Motors, LLC is a collective action in the Eastern District of Michigan. A group of General Motors employees alleged they were misclassified as salaried exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Although treated as exempt, their daily duties required regular overtime, including extra hours on each shift and weekends, without overtime pay. General Motors changed their classification multiple times but never compensated them for prior unpaid overtime.
The lawsuit claimed that General Motors’ reliance on the salary exemption violated the FLSA’s overtime provisions. The salaried employees argued their actual duties did not qualify for exemption and that they were entitled to time and a half for every hour worked beyond 40 in a workweek.
The case was resolved through a settlement, which the court approved as fair and reasonable. The settlement provided back pay and damages for the salaried employees, along with coverage of attorneys’ fees and costs.
Lessons learned from the case:
- Employers must ensure that salaried employees’ duties genuinely meet exemption standards before denying overtime.
- Reclassifying workers without compensating past violations can still create liability.
- Collective actions remain a powerful tool for groups of salaried employees to recover unpaid wages when misclassification occurs.
If you want to know more about salaried employee rights, read our guide on What are my rights as a salaried employee in Michigan?
