Opinion ID: 686722
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Denial of the Injunction

Text: 96 The Secretary also appeals the district court's refusal to prospectively enjoin The Monitor from committing future FLSA violations. The FLSA authorizes the district courts to enjoin violations of the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Act. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 217. The issue of whether an injunction is an appropriate remedial measure rests in the sound discretion of the district court, and its decision on this matter will only be disturbed on appeal where an abuse of discretion is shown. Martin v. Coventry Fire Dist., 981 F.2d 1358, 1362 (1st Cir.1992) (citation omitted). In exercising its discretion, the district court should weigh the finding of the violation established at trial against the factors that indicate the violations are not likely to recur, such as intent to comply, extraordinary efforts to prevent recurrence, absence of repetitive violations, and absence of bad faith. Id. 97 Reviewing the record with these factors in mind leads us to the inescapable conclusion that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the injunction. The violations at The Monitor were not the product of bad faith. Nor were they committed willfully. Rather, the violations can in part be traced to the indeterminate status of the FLSA exemptions in the field of journalism. 19 Further, although The Monitor steadfastly insisted throughout the trial and appeal that the majority of its journalists were exempt professionals, it represented to the district court that it fully intended to comply with requirements of the FLSA as clarified by the ultimate judicial resolution of this case. In these circumstances, the denial of the injunction was not an abuse of discretion.