School Golf Coach ‘Volunteer’ Under FLSA

No Venue in Virginia for Arbitration Suit

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 23, 2011
Tags: Judge Liam O'Grady, Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court dismisses for lack of venue this suit filed by plaintiff contractors’ association seeking confirmation of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act. Venue in an action to confirm an arbitration award may be established under the special venue provision of the FAA, or under the general [...]

No Pay for Mid-Shift ‘Donning & Doffing’ of Protective Gear

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 8, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Barbara Milano Keenan, Labor

Employees of a poultry-processing plant are entitled to be paid for time spent donning and doffing protective gear before and at the end of their work shifts, but the 4th Circuit says that time spent putting on and removing protective gear for a mid-shift meal break is not compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act. [...]

Post-Judgment Interest Awarded in FLSA Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 8, 2011
Tags: Judge Mark Davis, Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Although plaintiff was classified as an independent contractor by her employer, A Touch of Patience Shared Housing Inc., she alleges she cooked and served meals, cleaned, helped residents with small household tasks including laundry and taking medication, and she exercised no managerial or supervisory function over others and exercised no control, discretion or independent judgment [...]

Seaman Has No Overtime Pay Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 6, 2011
Tags: Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr., Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Norfolk U.S. District Court dismisses this overtime pay suit filed by a captains and deckhands who worked on mini-tugs, as 29 U.S.C. § 213(b)(6) exempts “any employee employed as a seaman” from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime pay requirements. In this case, there is no dispute over plaintiffs’ duties. The DOL advises that [...]

Bus Driver Who Failed Drug Screen Can’t Sue

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 6, 2011
Tags: Judge James R. Spencer, Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A bus driver who was fired after a post-accident drug screen showed marijuana cannot sue his union local and his employer under the Labor Management Relations Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, as his ADEA claim is time-barred as not brought within 90 days of receipt of his right-to-sue letter from the EEOC, [...]

Employer Must Prove Good Faith in Travel-Time Pay Dispute

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 6, 2011
Tags: Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this suit by plaintiffs, who travel to jobsites to erect scaffolding for defendant employer, the Norfolk U.S. District Court denies the employer’s motion for summary judgment on its claim that it acted in good faith in not paying for plaintiffs’ travel time to jobsites. The Fair Labor Standards Act envisions that liquidated damages in [...]

No Contract Work States FLSA Retaliation Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 6, 2011
Tags: Judge T.S. Ellis III, Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court says a technician who installed and serviced audiovisual systems for defendant, first as an employee and then as an independent contractor under a subcontract, has stated a claim for retaliation in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act with allegations that he was “blacklisted” after he provided an affidavit in [...]

No Second Chance for FLSA Retaliation Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 2, 2011
Tags: Judge James R. Spencer, Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A school employee does not get another chance to pursue her suit alleging retaliation under the Fair Labor Standards Act for her participation in another lawsuit for overtime pay under the FLSA, as the Richmond U.S. District Court denies reconsideration of its earlier dismissal. In her motion for reconsideration, plaintiff disagrees with the court’s previous [...]

Plant Supervisor’s Defamation Suit Preempted

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 17, 2011
Tags: Judge James C. Turk, Labor, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Roanoke U.S. District Court refuses to remand to state court this defamation suit filed by a supervisor at the Yokohama Tire plant in Salem who says a plant worker defamed him during a union grievance procedure by alleging the supervisor made “derogatory and discriminatory statements of a sexual nature” to the worker about another [...]