Curtis v. United States

59 Fed. Cl. 543, 9 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 891, 174 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2765, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 31, 2004 WL 349883
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedFebruary 23, 2004
DocketNo. 00-632C
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 59 Fed. Cl. 543 (Curtis v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Curtis v. United States, 59 Fed. Cl. 543, 9 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 891, 174 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2765, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 31, 2004 WL 349883 (uscfc 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

MEROW, Senior Judge.

In this case, former and current employees of the Naval Surface Warfare Center Division, Crane Division (“NSWCD” or “plaintiffs”) seek recovery for overtime pay and other relief pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 207. The matter is now before the court on defendant’s motion to dismiss pursuant to the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”) 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.1 Alternatively, defendant moves for summary judgment. For the reasons stated below, defendant’s motion is DENIED.

Background

Plaintiffs are former and present employees working in technician and various other positions in the NSWCD, a unit of the United States Navy. They have been assigned to the Marine Corps Program Department (“MCPD”) which is based is Fallbrook, California and Hawthorne, Nevada. While employed with the MCPD, plaintiffs were aligned to the Naval Weapons Station (“NWS”), Seal Beach, California. As employees of the MCPD, plaintiffs were members of the American Federation of Government Employees (“AFGE”) Local 3723, Unit Q. As the MCPD was realigned to the Naval Warfare Assessment Station, Corona, California and later to the NSWCD, Crane, Indiana, AFGE Local 3723, Unit Q remained the exclusive bargaining unit representative for all employees assigned to the MCPD. On March 4,1992, NWS entered into a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) with Local 3723, Unit Q.App. A to Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss (“Defi’s App.”)

Article 1 of the CBA provides that “[tjhis Agreement is subject to the provisions of existing and future laws and the regulations of appropriate authorities, ____” Article 18, “HOURS OF WORK,” states that the “basic forty (40) hours workweek will consist of five (5) consecutive eight (8) hour days, Monday [545]*545through Friday, except for those Unit employees whose services are determined by the Employer to require other basic workweeks.” Article 32, Section 1 of the CBA establishes that the “grievance procedure is the only procedure available to the Employer, the Union, and the employees of the unit for the adjustment of grievances over matters within the control of the Employer.” Grievances covered by the CBA include any complaint by an employee, the union, or employer for “any claimed violation, misinterpretation, or misapplication of any law, rule or regulation affecting conditions of employment.” Section 2 excludes thirteen matters from the grievance and arbitration procedures established under the CBA. Plaintiffs’ claims of alleged violations of the FLSA are not listed among the exclusions. The grievance procedure contained in the CBA sets forth a formal three-step process by which a grievance shall first be submitted to the employee’s immediate supervisor. If a satisfactory settlement is not reached, it may be submitted to the employee’s department head. If the parties are unable to reach agreement under step two, then the grievance may be submitted to the commanding officer. If the parties are still unable to reach a settlement, then either the union or the employer may elect to move a case to arbitration. An employee is unable to individually bring a claim to arbitration. Local 3723, Unit Q has not pursued a FLSA grievance on behalf of the plaintiffs.

Instead, plaintiffs have filed suit in the Court of Federal Claims alleging a violation of the FLSA for failure to provide overtime pay. Specifically, the FLSA provides:

Except as otherwise provided in this section, no employer shall employ any of his employees who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, for a workweek longer than forty hours unless such employee receives compensation for his employment in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed.

29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1).

Section 216(b) allows federal employees to seek damages in court for violations of section 207.2 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). Under the 1994 amendments to the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (“CSRA”), 5 U.S.C. § 7121(a)(1), the negotiated grievance procedures in a federal collective bargaining agreement are “the exclusive administrative procedures for resolving grievances which fall within its coverage.” See United States Office of Special Counsel Merit Systems Protection Board: Authorization, § 9c, Pub.L. No. 103-424, 108 Stat. 4361 (codified in sections of 5 U.S.C. and 12 U.S.C.). The CSRA also provides that any “collective bargaining agreement may exclude any matter from the application of grievance procedures which are provided for in the agreement.” 5 U.S.C. § 7121(a)(2). Prior to these amendments, the CSRA omitted the word “administrative” and merely stated that the “procedures shall be the exclusive procedures for resolving grievances which fall within its coverage.” 5 U.S.C. § 7121(a)(1) (1988). In Mudge v. United States, 308 F.3d 1220, 1227 (Fed.Cir.2002) (Mudge I), the Federal Circuit concluded that “Congress’ addition of the word 'administrative’ to § 7121(a) established a federal employee’s right to seek a judicial remedy for employment grievances subject to the negotiated procedures contained in his or her CBA.” The court held that the plain language of the amended statute “does not limit a federal employee’s right to avail him or herself of alternative, non-administrative avenues of redress.” Id. at 1230. However, the court noted that because the Court of Federal Claims “did not address the issue of whether the terms of Mr. Mudge’s [CBA] independently deprived it of jurisdiction, we do not resolve that question on appeal.” Id. at 1221. On remand, the Court of Federal Claims held that the CBA did not waive the plaintiffs right to seek a judicial remedy and [546]*546denied the government’s motion to dismiss. Mudge v. United States, 59 Fed.Cl. 527, 2004 WL 161329, (Fed.Cl. January 26, 2004) (Mudge II). The same issue is now before this court.

In their complaint, plaintiffs seek: 1) declaratory judgment that defendant has willfully and wrongfully violated its statutory obligations; 2) an accounting of compensation owed plaintiffs; 3) damages for failure to pay overtime compensation pursuant to the FLSA; 4) interest on their claim for back pay pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 5596; and 5) attorneys’ fees and costs.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard of Review

A. Motion to Dismiss

Defendant has moved to dismiss plaintiffs’ complaint pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

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59 Fed. Cl. 543, 9 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 891, 174 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2765, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 31, 2004 WL 349883, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/curtis-v-united-states-uscfc-2004.