Mortgage Bankers Association v. Harris
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
720 F.3d 966 (D.C. Cir. 2013)
In 2006, the Department of Labor (DOL) (defendant) issued an opinion letter concluding mortgage loan officers fell within the FLSA's administrative overtime exemption, but in 2010 its Deputy Administrator issued an Administrator's Interpretation withdrawing that letter and concluding loan officers did not qualify for the exemption. The Mortgage Bankers Association (plaintiff) sued, arguing the 2010 Interpretation was a 'definitive interpretation' requiring notice-and-comment rulemaking under the APA before the DOL could revise it; the DOL conceded the interpretation was definitive but argued regulated-entity reliance was a separate, independent requirement necessary before rulemaking would be required, conceding it would otherwise lose. The district court denied MBA's summary judgment motion, and MBA appealed.
Whether, in determining if an agency's interpretation of its regulation is definitive and requires notice-and-comment rulemaking, there is an independent requirement that regulated entities rely on the interpretation.