Duane Morris Class Action Review - 2023 - Report - Page 168
Applied here, the Eighth Circuit held there was a genuine issue of disputed fact as to
the extent of control Travelon had over the drivers’ hours; a rational fact-finder could
conclude that the drivers were able to transport multiple customers, use their personal
vehicles, and perform services independent of their work with Travelon; the district court
improperly failed to consider the evidence in the light most favorable to Travelon (for
example, that there was competing evidence as to whether drivers could reject trip
assignments); and genuine disputes of material fact remained as to whether drivers
were integral to Travelon’s business. Id. at *7-15. Accordingly, the Eighth Circuit
reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the DOL and
remanded for further proceedings.
The DOL also enforces other workplace protection laws such as the Family Medical
Leave Act (FMLA). It successfully prosecuted a case under that statute in 2022 in U.S.
Department Of Labor v. Mesa Air Group, Inc., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 164106 (D. Ariz.
Sept. 12, 2022), where the DOL filed a lawsuit against Mesa Air alleging that it was not
in compliance with the FMLA since it failed to appropriately calculate records of hours
worked and hours paId. The parties submitted competing briefs as to whether the FMLA
authorized the defendant to choose whether to determine flight crew employees’ FMLA
eligibility through hours worked or hours paid, and that the defendant was not required
to maintain records of both hours worked and hours paId. The DOL argued that the
defendant was required to maintain a record of both hours worked and hours paid, and
that FMLA eligibility is established if either of those numbers hits a particular threshold.
Id. at *1. The court ruled in favor of the DOL’s interpretation. Id. at *1-2. First, the court
opined that Congress clearly provided the FMLA hours of service requirement is
satisfied if one of two objective states is true: an employee has (i) worked, or (ii) been
paid for 504 hours. Id. at *4-5. As such, the court held that the “hours of service”
requirement for FMLA eligibility of employees is satisfied if either hours worked or hours
paid reaches 504 hours, or both, and that employers do not have discretion to
unilaterally exclude hours worked or hours paid from the FMLA calculation. Id. at *13.
Second, the court held that 29 C.F.R. § 825.803(b) was entitled to Chevron deference
since it was common sense that if employers were not required to maintain records of
hours worked and hours paid, it would be impossible to make service calculations
based on both hours worked and hours paId. Id. at *7-9. Finally, the court held that the
relevant statute and regulations were not so vague as to be unenforceable. Id. at *13.
Accordingly, the court ruled in favor of the DOL.
Finally, the DOL also aggressively enforces recordkeeping requirements under
workplace laws. In one such case in 2022 entitled U.S. Department Of Labor v. Valley
Wide Plastering Construction, Inc., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81836 (D. Ariz. May 5, 2022),
the DOL alleged that the defendants, a construction company and its owners, violated
and continued to violate the FLSA by failing to pay overtime premiums, refusing to
properly maintain records, and interfering with FLSA rights. The DOL observed that on
21 occasions, the defendants’ employees had not documented hours for time they had
been working or their vehicles had been observed at jobsites. The DOL alleged that the
defendants violated a preliminary injunction that required them to keep proper records,
and thus the DOL moved for civil contempt sanctions. The court granted in part and
denied in part the DOL’s motion for sanctions. The defendants argued that some
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Duane Morris Class Action Review – 2023
