Castellanos-Contreras v. Decatur Hotels, LLC

DENNIS, Circuit Judge,

dissenting, joined fully by JENNIFER WALKER ELROD, Circuit Judge; and joined in Sections I and II only by KING, W. EUGENE DAVIS, CARL E. STEWART, and PRADO, Circuit Judges.1

The majority opinion (1) ignores controlling Supreme Court decisions holding that federal courts must give deference to the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) reasonable interpretations of its own valid regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”); (2) adopts and applies its own eccentric interpretation of the FLSA and the DOL’s regulations, holding, contrary to the DOL’s views, that the…