Walsh v. Unitil: Court Revives FLSA Overtime Case for Utility Workers

In Walsh v. Unitil Service Corp., the First Circuit vacated a district court ruling that granted summary judgment to Unitil Service Corporation in a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) case. The case involved whether electric dispatchers and gas controllers at a utility company qualified for the FLSA’s administrative exemption and were thus not entitled to overtime pay. The court determined that the lower court applied an incomplete legal test and ordered further proceedings.

Job Duties and FLSA Background

Unitil Service Corporation is a service provider for public utilities that distribute electricity and gas. It employed dispatchers and controllers who monitored energy distribution systems and handled emergency responses. These employees sometimes worked over 40 hours per week.

Under the FLSA, employees are generally entitled to overtime pay unless they meet specific exemptions. For the administrative exemption to apply, the employer must prove three elements: (1) salary threshold; (2) primary duty related to management or general business operations; and (3) primary duty includes discretion and independent judgment on significant matters.

The only disputed elements were the second and third prongs.

Court Reframes the Second Prong

The First Circuit focused its analysis on the second element: whether the employees’ primary duties were related to the general business operations of Unitil or its customers. The court explained that this analysis must consider whether the employees perform work that supports the business (administrative) rather than providing the company’s core product or service.

Unitil argued that the workers performed compliance and safety functions. The district court agreed, relying on a list of sample administrative functions in the federal regulations. The First Circuit rejected that approach. It clarified that the analysis must instead compare the employee’s duties to the core function of the business.

The court emphasized that dispatchers and controllers at Unitil Service provided the very operational services the company existed to deliver. Because their duties directly contributed to the company’s business purpose, they likely did not meet the administrative exemption.

The panel further explained that even if the workers indirectly supported the utility companies (Unitil’s customers), the court must evaluate whether the services were related to managing those businesses rather than fulfilling their basic operational roles. The district court had not performed this deeper analysis.

Remand for Further Proceedings

Because genuine factual questions remained, the First Circuit vacated the summary judgment ruling and remanded the case for further consideration. The decision clarified that the "relational" test—which examines whether the employee's duties are administrative relative to the business purpose of the employer or its customers—must guide exemption evaluations.

Regulatory Compliance Support

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