FAYETTEVILLE, AR (October 1, 2014) – A team of lawyers from Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law firm representing management, successfully defended Lindsey Management Co., Inc., the largest property management firm of multi-family housing in Arkansas, against alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

In Chad Lochridge, et al. v. Lindsey Management Co., Inc., a group of former salaried employees of apartment communities managed by Lindsey Management filed misclassification claims under the FLSA. After a week-long trial, on September 26, 2014, a jury in the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Fayetteville Division, determined that Lindsey Management properly classified the salaried employees as exempt.

“This decision allows the apartment industry to continue to classify salaried apartment managers as exempt employees,” said Kimberly Miers, a shareholder in Littler’s Dallas office and lead attorney representing Lindsey Management. “As employers across all industries continue to contend with exempt misclassification claims that have the potential to cause significant issues for their operations, this is an important decision that will likely influence other cases that challenge similar positions.”

The Court conditionally certified a collective action allowing current and former employees to join the suit. Earlier this year, the Court decertified the salaried class and the trial proceeded with seven named plaintiffs. In its recent verdict, the jury determined that each of the former salaried employees met at least one of the exemptions of the FLSA and, therefore, were not entitled to overtime pay.

“We are thrilled with the outcome of this decision,” said Anne Mourney, General Counsel at Lindsey Management. “We have long maintained that the plaintiffs in this case were paid all wages owed and that they were properly classified as exempt employees under the FLSA. It is very gratifying that the jury ultimately agreed with our position.”

In addition to Miers, the legal team at Littler representing Lindsey Management included shareholders Jeremy Hawpe (Dallas) and Eva Madison (Northwest Arkansas), as well as associates Jonathan Rector (Dallas) and Andrew Laird (Dallas).

About Lindsey Management Co., Inc.

Lindsey Management Co., Inc. (LMC), based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, began its operations in 1985. The company has grown to become the largest property management firm of multi-family housing in the state of Arkansas and has a strong presence in the Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Tennessee. LMC presently manages over 39,000 apartment units. 

About Littler

Littler is the largest global employment and labor law practice, with more than 1,000 attorneys in over 60 offices worldwide. Littler represents management in all aspects of employment and labor law and serves as a single-source solution provider to the global employer community. Consistently recognized in the industry as a leading and innovative law practice, Littler has been litigating, mediating and negotiating some of the most influential employment law cases and labor contracts on record for over 70 years. Littler Global is the collective trade name for an international legal practice, the practicing entities of which are separate and distinct professional firms.