Rhea Lana, Inc. v. DOL, No. 17-5259 (D.C. Cir. 2019)
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Rhea Lana, a for-profit consignment business, challenged the Department's determination that the company's workers qualified as employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The DC Circuit affirmed the district court's decision upholding the Department's determination. As a preliminary matter, the court held that the Darling declaration was admissible and affirmed the district court's denial of the company's motion to strike the declaration.
On the merits, the court held that the Department correctly employed a totality-of-the-circumstances approach, and the Department's findings of facts under the Alamo test were adequately supported in the record. In this case, Rhea Lana's workers were employees rather than volunteers where there was evidence of in-kind compensation and control exerted by the company.
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