Court Opinion

ID: 9638122
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 15:34:03.906776+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:03.935386
License: Public Domain

HUXMAN, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
Congress, in the exercise of its sound discretion, imposed stringent penalties for the violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 201-219. The penalties provided in the Act are severe — so severe that in many instances employers hesitate to assert rights in court which they honestly feel they have, because of the penalties they suffer if they are mistaken and the judgment goes against them. This should be kept in mind in the administration of the Act. Excessive and burdensome attorneys’ fees should not be added to the mandatory penalties of the Act where a claim is resisted honestly and in good faith by an employer.
This case does not present a flagrant or intentional violation of the Act. It had just been passed. It was questionable whether watchmen fell within its provisions. There were no decisions by courts for the guidance of the employers. Since then the courts have not been able to agree themselves whether the Act applies to watchmen. Appellants paid more than the minimum wage provided in the Act for the total number of hours worked. It cannot be said that appellants acted in bad faith.
*660All the appellants owed was $660.25. For services rendered in collecting this amount, the attorneys were allowed a fee of $750. They got more than the clients did. To me it appears conclusively that such an allowance is excessive.
Neither am I impressed with the showing as to the enormous amount of work that was done in the case. True, there were more than fifty claimants, but the amount due them was not in dispute. The books of appellants accurately reflected the time they had worked and the amount paid them. There is no evidence that appellants concealed these facts or refused to make them available to plaintiffs. A complete summary could have been prepared by appellants’ bookkeeping department within a few hours. There is no evidence that this was not done.
Neither was the case particularly complicated. In fixing the fee, the court took into consideration the fact that an appeal might be taken. This, in my opinion, it had no right to do. If it could consider that, why not take into account the possibility of an application for certiorari and the further possibility that it might be granted ?
When all is said, the case presented the one question, whether the Act applied to these watchmen. If it did, there was admittedly due them the sum of $660.25. The question was a close one. Appellants, acting in good faith, asked the court to determine the question. Because, in good faith, they guessed wrong, they are compelled to pay the $660.25 due, a like amount as a penalty, and,” on top of all, $750 attorneys’ fees, and also the costs of the action. In short, they are compelled to pay $2,075.50 and the court costs in settlement of a claim of $660.25, because they honestly thought the Act did not apply. If such penalties are to be inflicted, employers may well hesitate before they challenge any demands made upon them, no matter how ill founded. The payment of this'judgment will not be a burden on these appellants, but that is beside the point. In my view, $350 would have been adequate compensation for the legal services rendered.
For these reasons I am compelled respectfully to dissent from that part of the judgment of the court approving the allowance of attorneys’ fees.