Collins v. Lobdell (August 24, 1999)
* Court: Ninth Circuit
* Public Employer: Spokane Valley Fire Protection District
(Washington)
* Plaintiffs' Job Class: Firefighters
* Trial Court Decision: In favor of District
* Appellate Court Decision: In favor or District
* Issue Areas: FSLA, overtime
Collins Facts
* Plaintiffs were unionized firefighters with the district.
* Under their collective bargaining agreement, work performed beyond normal
hours, up to 144 hours, was paid in comp. time, not overtime pay.
once a firefighter had accumulated 144 hours in comp. time, the contract
required the district to pay overtime.
* The plaintiffs' CTO bank began to approach 144 hours; the
department ordered them to take time off.
* The union filed a grievance under the collective bargaining
agreement but did not pursue it to the last step.
* Plaintiffs filed suit in federal court; the court granted summary
judgment in favor of the district.
* The Ninth Circuit agreed with the district court.
Collins Analysis
* The district argued that the plaintiffs could not sue because they
had not exhausted their remedies under their collective bargaining
agreement (CBA). But you only have to exhaust such remedies if you were
suing under the CBA. But, since plaintiffs were suing under the Fair
Labor Standards Act FLSA) itself, not under the CBA, they were not
required to exhaust their remedies under the labor contract.
* Turning to the issue of whether the FLSA prohibits employers from
forcing employees to use comp. time, the Ninth Circuit notes that the
two circuits that have considered this issue are split over it.
* The Ninth Circuit sides with the Fifth Circuit and holds that
employers can force employees to use their comp. time. The Ninth Circuit
primarily relied on congressional legislative history indicating that an
FLSA goal for public employers was to ease the burden of paying
overtime.
