Allyn v. United States

461 F.2d 810, 198 Ct. Cl. 725, 2 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20473, 4 ERC (BNA) 1262, 1972 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 206
United States Court of Claims·Decided June 16, 1972·No. No. 98-66·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinions

Per Curiam :

This case was referred to Trial Commissioner Mastín Gr. White with directions to make findings of fact and recommendation for conclusions of law under the order of reference and Buie 134(h). The commissioner has done so in an opinion and report filed on April 29,1971. Exceptions to the commissioner’s opinion, findings of fact and recommended conclusion of law were filed by plaintiffs, an excep[727] tion to the recommended conclusion of law was filed by defendant and tbe case bas been submitted to the court on oral argument of counsel and the briefs of the parties.

With respect to their major contention that Public Law 85-580, 42 U.S.C. § 267 (c), directs the additional compensation they seek, plaintiffs rely heavily on post-enactment statements by interested members of the House of Representatives which can be understood as construing the statute in the same way as plaintiffs do. The court cannot, however, place much reliance on these statements both because they came after the passage of the legislation and also, and even more importantly, because there is no showing whatever that the Senate shared these views in any measure. The indications are, rather, that the Senate accepted the proposal on its own terms. As Commissioner White points out, that statutory language, repeatedly referring to “overtime”, does not support plaintiffs’ claim if “overtime” is understood in its normal and usual sense.

Since the court agrees with the commissioner’s opinion, findings of fact and recommended conclusion of law, as hereinafter set forth, it hereby adopts the same, together with the foregoing paragraph, as the basis for its judgment in this case.* Therefore, plaintiff Harold C. Hurt (48) is not entitled to recover and the petition as to him is dismissed.

OPINION OP COMMISSIONER.

White, Commissioner: The plaintiffs are 99 Quarantine Inspectors employed by the Foreign Quarantine Division of the United States Public Health Service, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and stationed at various places where persons arrive in the United States from foreign countries.

In the original petition, each of the 99 plaintiffs asserted a claim for “overtime” compensation by virtue of having been required by the defendant to work sometimes “at night and on Sundays and holidays” during the 6-year period immediately preceding the filing of the petition on March 22, [728]*7281966. Subsequently, four of the plaintiffs who are assigned to the San Diego-San Ysidro Quarantine Station in California filed a supplemental petition asserting claims for “hazardous duty” pay for the period subsequent to January 29,1967.

The attorneys for the parties agreed, with the approval of the commissioner, that the initial trial would relate only to the claims of the plaintiff Harold C. Hurt (48), one of the four San Diego-San Ysidro plaintiffs mentioned in the last sentence of the preceding paragraph. Mr. Hurt’s claim for overtime compensation was regarded as representative of the overtime claims of the other 98 plaintiffs, and his claim for hazardous duty pay was regarded as representative of the hazardous duty claims of the other three San Diego-San Ysidro plaintiffs. It was further agreed that the trial would be limited to the issues of fact and law pertaining to the plaintiff Hurt’s right to recover, reserving the determination of the amount of the recovery (if any) for further proceedings under Rule 131 (c).

The plaintiff Hurt has been employed by the Foreign Quarantine Division of the Public Health Service since November 9,1959, and he has been assigned to the San Diego-San Ysidro Quarantine Station in California since December 6, 1959. From the time of his employment until February 2, 1965, the plaintiff Hurt held the position of Quarantine Border Inspector, GrS-7. On February 2, 1965, the title of his position was changed to Quarantine Inspector and the grade of his position was increased to GS-9.

It is my opinion that the plaintiff Hurt is not entitled to recover on either of his claims.

A. The “Overtime” Claim

During the period that is involved in this suit, the plaintiff Hurt has sometimes been assigned to work on Sundays or holidays, or between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. on other days, as part of his regularly scheduled 8-hour workday and 40-hour workweek. In the present suit, he claims — and the defendant denies — that he should have been paid “overtime” compensation for such work under the provisions of Section [729]*729364(c) of the Public Health Service Act, as amended (42 U.S.C.§267(c) (1964)).

The matter of the compensation, payable to Quarantine Inspectors of the Public Health Service for work performed at night, or on Sundays or holidays, has been complicated by the circumstance that Quarantine Inspectors perform their functions at ports of entry alongside inspectors who are employed by the Customs Bureau, Department of the Treasury, and inspectors who are employed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Department of Justice, and such inspectors are covered by special statutory provisions which grant them an unusually high rate of compensation (in comparison with other Government personnel) for work done at night or on Sundays or holidays.

With respect to Government personnel generally, “overtime” is work performed in excess of 8 hours in a day, or in excess of 40 hours in a workweek; and an employee holding a position in grade GS-10 or lower is compensated for overtime at I14 times his basic rate of pay (5 U.S.C. § 5542 (1964, Supp. V, 1965-69)). On the other hand, any work performed by a Customs Inspector or an Immigrant Inspector between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m., or on Sundays or holidays, is “overtime” and is compensable:

* * * on the basis of one-half day’s additional pay for each two hours or fraction thereof of at least one hour that the overtime extends beyond five o’clock postmeridian (but not to exceed two and one-half days’ pay for the full period from five o’clock postmeridian to eight o’clock antemeridian), and two additional days’ pay for Sunday or holiday duty. * * * 1

In the summer of 1954, both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed H.R. 6253, 83d Cong., which would have placed Quarantine Inspectors of the Public Health Service on a parity with Customs Inspectors and Immigrant Inspectors with respect to work performed at night or on Sundays or holidays. Under this bill, any work performed by a Quarantine Inspector between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m., or [730] on Sundays or holidays, would have been “overtime” and would have been compensable on the same basis as that quoted in the preceding paragraph.

However, President Eisenhower withheld his approval, and H.E. 6253, 83d Cong., was not enacted. In explaining his position, the President stated in part that:

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Allyn v. United States, 461 F.2d 810, 198 Ct. Cl. 725, 2 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20473, 4 ERC (BNA) 1262, 1972 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 206 (cc 1972).

461 F.2d 810 (Allyn v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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