TOPEKA — A three-judge panel of the Kansas Court of Appeals says the Kansas Department of Labor relied on flawed legal reasoning to decide the owner of a Wichita roofing company owed $89,000 in unpaid overtime compensation to employees.
The appellate court deduced the Department of Labor improperly blended federal and state labor laws when it determined eight employees of LJ Beck Roofing and Guttering were entitled to overtime pay for work performed during a three-year period. The court unanimously agreed to send the case back to the Department of Labor for reconsideration.
“The agency misapplied the law when it determined that claimants were entitled to wages from unpaid overtime,” says the opinion written by Court of Appeals Judge Jacy Hurst…