Alabama Elk River Development Agency v. Rogers

516 So. 2d 637, 29 Wage & Hour Cas. (BNA) 187, 1987 Ala. LEXIS 4646, 1987 WL 2146
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedOctober 23, 1987
Docket86-399
StatusPublished

This text of 516 So. 2d 637 (Alabama Elk River Development Agency v. Rogers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alabama Elk River Development Agency v. Rogers, 516 So. 2d 637, 29 Wage & Hour Cas. (BNA) 187, 1987 Ala. LEXIS 4646, 1987 WL 2146 (Ala. 1987).

Opinion

BEATTY, Justice.

Appeal by defendant, Alabama Elk River Development Agency (“Development Agency”), from the denial of its motion for summary judgment in plaintiffs action against it to recover overtime wages and liquidated damages under the provisions of 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Pursuant to Rule 5, A.R. App.P., this Court granted permission for an interlocutory appeal.

The Development Agency was created in 1966 “in the interest of the unified development of the Alabama portion of the Elk River watershed and for purposes of cooperation with the Tennessee Elk River area development agency” as a state development agency, in accordance with Code of 1975, § 33-12-1. In 1967, the defendant entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Tennessee Valley Authority (“TVA”), the Elk River Development Association, and the Tennessee Elk River Development Agency that defined areas of responsibility and established guidelines for cooperation among the four organizations in a program aimed at fully developing all resources of the Elk River watershed. The Elk River watershed is composed of ten counties located in Alabama and Tennessee.

The four organizations sought to develop a program aimed at revitalizing the “Lower Elk Area,” which included Limestone County, Alabama, by developing new rural residential living areas. Planning money was appropriated to TVA by Congress in 1971 for the purpose of evaluating prospective sites for a rural residential living area to demonstrate an alternative to strip development along roadways. In late 1973, the defendant obtained options on two large tracts of land near Elkmont, Alabama. In 1976, Congress made an appropriation to TVA as starting money for Elkmont Rural Village. The Development Agency and TVA subsequently entered into a contract in 1976 whereby the defendant would acquire the property and develop and administer the Elkmont Rural Village program. The Development Agency then acquired approximately 1700 acres for the village. When Elkont Rural Village is completed, or when TVA and the Development Agency agree that the project is no longer needed, then the defendant will return to the federal treasury, through TVA, the original appropriation, plus interest based on the U.S. Treasury’s long-term interest rates.

Plaintiff, Elmer Rogers, was employed by the Development Agency on September 28, 1977, as a laborer. His duties initially included construction clean-up in the first [638]*638area developed in Elkmont Rural Village and cutting grass in the common area of the village. The plaintiff eventually became the maintenance man and security guard for the village. Rogers was employed by the defendant for approximately seven and one-half years preceding January 11, 1985. Rogers claims that the defendant failed to compensate him for all of the overtime hours worked by him in the performance of his duties as maintenance man and security guard. The plaintiffs duties included hard manual labor, such as repairing water pipes, cutting grass, making and cleaning trails, tilling the community garden, constructing new fences, planting pine trees, maintaining the sewage plant, patrolling the subdivision looking for intruders or hunters, responding to calls from the residents of the village regarding maintenance or security problems, and cooking and cleaning at the picnic shelter.

The Development Agency was engaged in the commercial development of a residential subdivision during the plaintiffs employment. The defendant sold subdivided lots in the village or constructed houses on the lots and subsequently sold the lots and the houses thereon. Sixty-one homes have been completed in Elkmont Rural Village, and approximately 225 people live in the village. The defendant also provided water and sewage services, security guard services, and recreational facilities to the residents of the village to facilitate its development. The defendant engaged in extensive advertising in newspapers published in Athens and Huntsville, advertising that residential lots were for sale in Elk-mont Rural Village. The Development Agency’s financial report concerning the village for the quarter of July, August, and September 1983, show that the defendant received about $52,000 from the sale of houses and about $18,000 from the sale of land, and that the defendant expended in excess of $158,000 during that quarter in building 10 houses.

The basic legal question presented is whether the Development Agency is subject to the overtime compensation provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

A number of federal court decisions have wrestled with similar issues pertaining to various state and municipal activities. Until recently, these issues had been decided by the utilization of a functional test recognized in National League of Cities v. Usery, 426 U.S. 833, 96 S.Ct. 2465, 49 L.Ed.2d 245 (1976), upheld in Hodel v. Virginia Surface Mining & Reclamation Assn., Inc., 452 U.S. 264, 101 S.Ct. 2352, 69 L.Ed. 2d 1 (1981), and applied in United Transportation Union v. Long Island Railroad Co., 455 U.S. 678, 102 S.Ct. 1349, 71 L.Ed. 2d 547 (1982). That test was stated as follows in thé Long Island Railroad Co. case, at 455 U.S. 684-85, 102 S.Ct. 1353-54:

“Only recently we had occasion to apply the National League of Cities doctrine in Hodel v. Virginia Surface Mining & Reclamation Assn., Inc., 452 U.S. 264, 101 S.Ct. 2352, 69 L.Ed.2d 1 (1981). In holding that the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. § 1201 et seq. (1976 ed., Supp. IV), did not violate the Tenth Amendment by usurping state authority over land-use regulations, we set out a three-prong test to be applied in evaluating claims under National League of Cities:
‘[I]n order to succeed, a claim that congressional commerce power legislation is invalid under the reasoning of National League of Cities must satisfy each of three requirements. First, there must be a showing that the challenged regulation regulates the “States as States.” [426 U.S.], at 854 [96 S.Ct., at 2475]. Second, the federal regulation must address matters that are indisputably “attributes of state sovereignty.” Id., at 845 [96 S.Ct. at 2471]. And third, it must be apparent that the States’ compliance with the federal law would directly impair their ability “to structure integral operations in areas of traditional governmental functions.” Id., at 852 [96 S.Ct., at 2474].’ 452 U.S., at 287-288, 101 S.Ct. at 2366.
“The key prong of the National League of Cities test applicable to this case is the third one, which examines whether ‘the States' compliance with the federal [639]*639law would directly impair their ability “to structure integral operations in areas of traditional governmental functions.” ’
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Related

United States v. California
297 U.S. 175 (Supreme Court, 1936)
National League of Cities v. Usery
426 U.S. 833 (Supreme Court, 1976)
City of Lafayette v. Louisiana Power & Light Co.
435 U.S. 389 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Wyoming
460 U.S. 226 (Supreme Court, 1983)

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516 So. 2d 637, 29 Wage & Hour Cas. (BNA) 187, 1987 Ala. LEXIS 4646, 1987 WL 2146, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alabama-elk-river-development-agency-v-rogers-ala-1987.