Fleck v. State ex rel. Oklahoma Department of Corrections

1994 OK CIV APP 130, 888 P.2d 532, 66 O.B.A.J. 107, 2 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1145, 1994 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 153
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedAugust 30, 1994
DocketNo. 83502
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 1994 OK CIV APP 130 (Fleck v. State ex rel. Oklahoma Department of Corrections) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fleck v. State ex rel. Oklahoma Department of Corrections, 1994 OK CIV APP 130, 888 P.2d 532, 66 O.B.A.J. 107, 2 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1145, 1994 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 153 (Okla. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

STUBBLEFIELD, Judge.

This case was assigned to the accelerated docket pursuant to Civil Appellate Procedure Rule 1.203(A), 12 O.S.Supp.1993, ch. 15, app. 2, after the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of plaintiff in an action seeking back pay and liquidated damages [534]*534under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219. Appellant’s motions for oral argument and briefing are denied. After a review of the record on appeal and applicable law, we reverse and remand with instructions.

On March 17, 1992, Plaintiff David Fleck filed this action against his employer, Defendant Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC). Plaintiff was employed by ODOC as a Correctional Trade Supervisor at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center in Lexington, Oklahoma. Plaintiff alleged that he was not fully compensated during fiscal years 1984 through 1989 for fifteen-minute shift briefings and overtime worked, which was paid at his regular rate of pay rather than at time and one-half. He sought recovery of this unpaid compensation, liquidated damages in an equal amount and attorney fees and costs pursuant to section 216(b) of the FLSA.

ODOC filed motions to dismiss and for summary judgment based largely upon the grounds that Plaintiffs claim was barred by 29 U.S.C. § 255, the statute of limitations applicable to Plaintiffs claims under the FLSA. Section 255 provides, in pertinent part:

Any action commenced on or after May 14, 1947, to enforce any cause of action for unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime compensation, or liquidated damages, under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended [29 U.S.C.A. § 201 et seq]....
(a) if the cause of action accrues on or after May 14, 1947 — may be commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued, and every such action shall be forever barred unless commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued, except that a cause of action arising out of a willful violation may be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrued.

However, the trial court denied these motions and sustained Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment apparently awarding him compensation for the entire period sought, although no evidentiary materials established the specific amount. The trial court also awarded judgment for liquidated damages and attorney fees, the latter without eviden-tiary basis. ODOC appeals.

ODOC claims six errors necessitating reversal. However, we find one dispositive. We conclude that the statute of limitations in section 255 does bar Plaintiffs cause of action.

Unquestionably, much of the recovery sought by Plaintiff is barred. In 1985, the United States Supreme Court in Garcia v. San Antonio Metro. Transit Auth., 469 U.S. 528, 105 S.Ct. 1005, 83 L.Ed.2d 1016 (1985), reversed its express ruling in National League of Cities v. Usery, 426 U.S. 833, 96 S.Ct. 2465, 49 L.Ed.2d 245 (1976), and held that application of the FLSA to state and local governments does not violate the Tenth Amendment and that congress could enforce the provisions of the FLSA against them. One of the significant effects of Garcia was to require state and local governments to begin paying their employees overtime in accordance with the provisions of section 207 of the FLSA.

On November 14, 1985, congress amended' the FLSA. The amendment included a provision delaying application of the FLSA overtime requirements. According to the terms of the amendment, state and local governments would not be liable to their employees for nonpayment of overtime until April 15, 1986. The amendment reads: “No State ... shall be liable under section 16 [the penalties and civil and criminal liability provision] of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 for a violation ... of such Act occurring before April 15, 1986....” Pub.L. No. 99-150, § 2(c)(1), 99 Stat. 787. The purpose of the amendment was to allow state and local governments “lead-time” to make necessary adjustments in their work practices, staffing patterns and fiscal responsibilities. Rhinebarger v. Chr, 839 F.2d 387, 388-89 n. 3 (7th Cir.1988), cert. denied 488 U.S. 824, 109 S.Ct. 71, 102 L.Ed.2d 48 (1988).

The trial court herein awarded compensation for unpaid shift briefings and overtime to Plaintiff, as he requested, for a period extending back to July 1, 1983. The award of back pay for the period of time prior to [535]*535April 15, 1986, is clearly contrary to the 1985 FLSA amendment.

It is also undisputed that Plaintiff was paid for a period of time for which he seemingly sought recovery in his petition and motion for summary judgment. He does not dispute the evidentiary showing that he was paid for the period of time from July 1, 1988, to December 31, 1989. Thus, any part of the trial court’s judgment compensating him for that period is erroneous.

As to the remaining period for which recovery might be sought, the question determinative of Plaintiffs right to recover is when did his cause of action accrue. He claims that it did not accrue until April 24, 1992, when he received a check for back pay. He maintains this is the first time he had knowledge that he was not paid properly.

However, Plaintiff does not explain why he did not know that he was not being-paid for all hours worked. Clearly, that fact was evident each pay period when his pay did not reflect all the hours he knew, or should have known, that he had worked. In that regard, the law is clear that a cause of action for overtime wages under the FLSA accrues when the FLSA is violated or a duty created by the FLSA is breached. See Unexcelled Chemical Corp. v. United States, 345 U.S. 59, 65, 73 S.Ct. 580, 583, 97 L.Ed. 821 (1953); Aguilar v. Clayton, 452 F.Supp. 896, 898-99 (E.D.Okla.1978). A cause of action arises with each pay period in which there is a breach of the FLSA. Halferty v. Pulse Drug Co., Inc., 821 F.2d 261 (5th Cir.1987).

Section 255 of the FLSA contains a two-year statute of limitations for non-willful violations and a three-year limitation period if the employee’s cause of action arises out of a willful violation. Although Plaintiff did allege a willful violation in his amended petition, there is not sufficient evidence before the trial court and this court to determine whether there was, or was not, a willful violation of the FLSA. However, even the three year statute would allow Plaintiffs recovery only after March 17, 1989, and the evidentiary materials do conclusively demonstrate that Plaintiff ivas properly paid from that date forward.

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1994 OK CIV APP 130, 888 P.2d 532, 66 O.B.A.J. 107, 2 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1145, 1994 Okla. Civ. App. LEXIS 153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fleck-v-state-ex-rel-oklahoma-department-of-corrections-oklacivapp-1994.