Opinion ID: 67925
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: analysis

Text: We conclude that, for several reasons, appellants Bevins, Hartman, and Von Friewalde have failed to present sufficient evidence to permit a reasonable factfinder to conclude that they had met their burden under the FLSA. First of all, their claims rest upon an amount of unpaid overtime that is de minimis as a matter of law. See Anderson, 66 S.Ct. at 1195 (“[I]t is appropriate to apply a de minimis doctrine so that insubstantial and insignificant periods of time spent in preliminary activities need not be included in the statutory workweek.”); see also Alvarez, 339 F.3d at 903. In Anderson and Alvarez, the workers produced evidence that they regularly engaged in the same compensable activities day after day yet were never paid for their efforts. See Anderson, 66 S.Ct. at 1190–91; see also Alvarez, 339 F.3d at 898–99. Therefore, the accumulated amount of unpaid overtime was substantial, and a factfinder could reasonably infer the amount of damages based upon the activities in question and the number of days worked. Here, in contrast, neither Bevins, Hartman, nor Von Friewalde proved that they regularly performed compensable activities without being paid. Rather, on random occasions occurring perhaps a handful of times over the course of a year or more, they allegedly worked overtime amounting to some small portion of an hour without compensation. Their testimony reveals the de minimis nature of their claims and does not constitute “sufficient evidence 15 to show the amount and extent of that work as a matter of just and reasonable inference” under the standard laid out in Anderson. See 66 S.Ct. at 1192. Moreover, these appellants admitted that, on the vast majority of occasions, they were paid when they notified their superiors that they had worked overtime. Their claims largely arise from days on which they failed to inform their managers that they had been forced to stay a few minutes late to finish cleaning up, return tools, etc. While an employer may not “stand idly by” without paying an employee that he knows or should know is working overtime, an employee has a duty to notify his employer when he is working extra hours. See Newton, 47 F.3d at 748. Further, it is undisputed that all of Boeing’s employees were aware of its policy prohibiting overtime work without authorization, and we have expressly rejected the notion that an employer does “not have the right to require an employee to adhere to its procedures for claiming overtime.” Id. at 749. Therefore, in the case of Hartman for instance, Boeing is not responsible for paying for the few moments he voluntarily spent checking work emails prior to his shift without notifying his manager. More broadly speaking, Boeing cannot be held liable for the sporadic occasions when its employees chose to start work early or were forced by circumstances (perhaps of their own making) to work a few minutes late but never informed their superiors. In the case of Von Friewalde, his claim that he worked on average fifteen minutes of unpaid overtime per day is, on its face, substantial enough to overcome the de minimis rule. However, Von Friewalde’s testimony does not establish that he was performing an extra fifteen minutes of compensable work each day, but rather only that he was clocked-in for an extra fifteen minutes. As the district court observed, “[t]he clock-in and clock-out times do not show what the employee was actually doing during those times, and they are not evidence 16 of actual or constructive knowledge that compensable work was being performed.” Von Friewalde’s testimony does not support the conclusion that he should be paid for all of the time he was clocked-in but not on-shift; nor does it contain, or furnish any basis for inferring, any reasonable estimate of the amount of time worked on such occasions. Further, Von Friewalde admitted that he normally did not notify his superiors that he was working overtime. And, when he did request overtime but they still refused to pay him, the amount of time involved was de minimis. In Lindow, “[a]s a general rule, the [employer] corps did not pay overtime for intervals of less than fifteen minutes.” Id., 738 F.2d at 1063. In denying recovery for pre-shift compensable activities, the Ninth Circuit observed: There was also a wide variance in the amount of pre-shift time spent on compensable activities as opposed to social activities. Although plaintiffs spent an average of 7 to 8 minutes a day reading the log book and exchanging information, they did not always perform these duties before their shifts. The Corps would have had difficulty monitoring this pre-shift activity. Moreover, although plaintiffs reported early on a regular basis, they did not regularly engage in compensable activities. The district court found that ‘most employees came in about 15 minutes early, and sometimes spent a portion of this time reading the log book or exchanging information.’ Although plaintiffs’ aggregate claim may be substantial, we conclude that their claim is de minimus because of the administrative difficulty of recording the time and the irregularity of the additional pre-shift work. ... Occasionally, a lockage would occur at the time of a shift change and early arriving employees would be sent to the locks to relieve the operator. This practice enabled the departing employee to avoid having to work past the scheduled shift. The district court found that an employee was asked to relieve 17 the previous operator only once or twice a month, and that it took 5 to 15 minutes to relieve an operator. It properly concluded that this claim was de minimus. The aggregate amount of time involved was insignificant and the practice was irregular. Id. at 1063-64. Much of the foregoing is analogous to most of the claims here and properly supports their denial. On the other hand, we conclude that Montelongo has created a fact issue as to whether Boeing violated the FLSA in failing to pay him overtime. Unlike the other appellants discussed above, Montelongo claims to have worked a substantial amount of overtime without pay, up to two hours on some days, which rises above the de minimis threshold. Additionally, he performed this work at his managers’ request, and he notified them directly when he was never paid for his efforts. Therefore, because his managers were clearly aware that Montelongo was working overtime, Boeing’s policy against unauthorized overtime offers no defense. We also conclude that Lozano has presented sufficient evidence to create a fact issue as to whether he performed uncompensated overtime work of which his superiors knew or should have known. Lozano testified that he consistently performed overtime work for which he was not compensated, and he was the only appellant to submit any sort of documentary evidence in support of his claim. Unlike the other appellants in this collective action, for whom unpaid overtime was a seemingly random and rare event, Lozano was forced to start work early and to finish late on a daily basis. Apparently, the Boeing policy against working during the pre- and post-shift grace periods did not apply to tool control attendants, who were expected to use that time to prepare the tool crib before the shift and to put away everyone’s tools at the end of the shift. It is also clear from Lozano’s testimony that his superiors knew or should have known that he was working extra hours on the days for which he did not receive 18 overtime. Thus, for summary judgment purposes, we hold that opt-in appellants Montelongo and Lozano have adequately demonstrated that they performed a more substantial than de minimus amount of uncompensated overtime work and have produced “sufficient evidence to show the amount and extent of that work as a matter of just and reasonable inference.” See Anderson, 66 S.Ct. at 1192. Therefore, the district court erred in dismissing their claims at this stage of the proceedings. However, we conclude that all of the other appellants have failed to present any evidence sufficient to support a judgment for recovery in their favor under the FLSA and that hence summary judgment was properly granted dismissing their claims. Most appellants, including Compas and almost all of the opt-ins, failed to present any evidence at all. As to named appellants Bevins, Hartman, and Von Friewalde, their claims fail for a number of reasons: either they worked a de minimis amount of overtime, they failed to notify their superiors, or they performed overtime work on their own initiative in contravention of Boeing’s overtime policy.