Court Opinion

ID: 9484293
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:47:47.075034+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:50:09.115033
License: Public Domain

CRABB, District Judge,
concurring.
This is an extraordinarily difficult case, made more so by the lack of a factual record. I agree with Judge Cudahy that a more complete development of the facts is necessary to allow an informed decision on the scope of the officers’ duties during their lunch breaks. In this regard, I want to add a few comments on the Rule 12(c) motion, the procedural vehicle used by defendant. As this case illustrates, the motion is often confusing. Because it can be used to raise procedural defects after an answer has been filed, it resembles the motions brought under 12(b), including the motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. It can also be used in situations in which the pleadings are complete and without defect and raise only a question of law. See generally, 5A Charles A. Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure §§ 1367 and 1368 (1990). In this case, it appears that defendant used it in the Leahy case to try to resolve a question of law and that plaintiffs objected to its use, maintaining that factual development of the record was necessary to resolve the case and that their complaint was sufficient to state a claim. (In Accosta and Alexander, defendant filed 12(b)(6) motions, which were granted by the district court, relying on the disposition of Leahy.)
On appeal, plaintiffs argue that the district court should have applied a motion to dismiss standard to defendant’s 12(c) motion in Le-ahy, that is, the district court should have considered whether any set of facts might be alleged that would support their claim. Plaintiffs seem to be arguing that the district court should not be bound by the defendant’s characterization of its motion: whenever the motion is filed in a situation in which there is some question whether the complaint is sufficient on its face to state a claim, the court should apply the motion to dismiss standard.
At the outset of his opinion, Judge Cudahy declines to adopt a motion to dismiss standard when the moving party is seeking judg*341ment as a matter of law, but he seems to revert to it at the end. At p. 340, supra, he notes the possibility that the plaintiffs in Leahy might be able to show that frequent interruptions turn their lunch breaks into work time, even though these plaintiffs never made allegations to that effect in either their original or their amended complaint. If, when district courts are considering motions for judgment on the pleadings, they have an obligation to consider whether the plaintiffs could come forward with additional facts that would state a claim, I think this should be made plain in the opinion. I would hold that whenever a defendant moves for judgment on the pleadings in any but the rare ease in which the parties agree that the pleadings set out a straightforward question of law, the court should apply the motion to dismiss standard in evaluating the legal sufficiency of the pleadings.
Turning to the merits of the case, I note that much of the difficulty of this case lies in applying the “completely relieved from” standard to patrol work, which consists largely of surveillance conducted in a heightened state of readiness. The frequency of interruptions during meal periods may operate to impose a state of readiness so like that of actual patrol work as to warrant compensation during all meal periods. Such a state of readiness may result from the frequency of dispatcher-initiated calls, or again, departmental regulations may so constrain an officer’s choice of location and activities during meal periods as to require in effect that the officer perform services commensurate with those of an officer who walks a beat. In either case, officers would not be “completely relieved from duty” within the meaning of the FLSA.
I understand Judge Cudahy to be holding that these cases should be returned to the district court to allow the plaintiffs a chance to show that the number and frequency of the actual interruptions require them to spend their lunch breaks predominantly on their employer’s business. To the extent that his opinion can be read to hold that the officers have raised a triable issue of fact merely by proffering the actual departmental regulations, I disagree with it. The regulations do not affirmatively require the performance of active duties or so restrict the officer’s choice of location and activities as to make his lunch break the equivalent of work time. It is the allegation of frequent interruptions that raises the possibility that the officers could show that their “attention is devoted primarily to official responsibilities” during meal periods. In the absence of such an allegation, one can presume that departmental restrictions are intended merely to facilitate readiness to respond to events of limited contingency, such as an emergency call, or are otherwise incidental to an officer’s on-call uniformed status. This presumption would be strengthened by a showing that a department has adopted procedures to defer calls by the dispatcher to an officer until after the officer’s meal break and to otherwise insulate officers from recurrent disruptions. Conversely, this presumption would be eroded by a showing of frequent interruptions, particularly those initiated by the department, that suggest that restrictions are designed to convert meal periods into patrol time. Lee, 937 F.2d at 225, was decided in favor of the employer in part because evidence existed that officers were called back only in an occasional emergency. Similarly, in Lamon, although the department had revised its administrative code to provide that lunch periods be uninterrupted except in emergencies, officers had alleged that evening meals were frequently interrupted, that officers were frequently required to respond to emergencies, and that often officers had to forgo meals entirely. 1990 WL 186280, at *2 and *5, 1990 U.S. Dist. Lexis 15906, at *5 and *16 (D.Kan. Oct. 4, 1990).
Standing alone, the restrictions alleged in Leahy are insufficient to raise a viable claim that these plaintiffs-appellants were not completely relieved from duty. However, I agree with Judge Cudahy that plaintiffs might be able to allege facts that would sustain their position and entitle them to relief. Applying a motion to dismiss standard to their complaint, I would give them a chance to add such allegations to their complaint and develop a factual record.. In Alexander and Accosta, plaintiffs-appellants allege frequent interruptions by citizens and inspectors, although they do not allege that they are required frequently to respond to *342“emergency calls” or other calls by the dispatcher or to undertake other duties. Although the allegations suggest that officers remain free to undertake personal errands while on their lunch breaks, unlike the officers in Wahl, 725 F.Supp. 1133, 1137 (D.Kan.1989) and Lamon, when all reasonable inferences are drawn in favor of the officers, the allegations support an inference that the officers’ meal periods are primarily for the benefit of the employer.