Price v. Public Service Co. of Oklahoma

180 F. Supp. 3d 893, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50801, 2016 WL 1558464
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Oklahoma
DecidedApril 15, 2016
DocketCase No. 13-CV-514-GKF-FHM
StatusPublished

This text of 180 F. Supp. 3d 893 (Price v. Public Service Co. of Oklahoma) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Price v. Public Service Co. of Oklahoma, 180 F. Supp. 3d 893, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50801, 2016 WL 1558464 (N.D. Okla. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

GREGORY K. FRIZZELL, CHIEF JUDGE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

Before the court is the Motion for Summary Judgment [Dkt. # 189] filed by defendant Public Service Company of Oklahoma (“PSO”). Plaintiffs, PSO employees, work in regularly scheduled shifts, and in addition, they are assigned on-call time. Plaintiffs have different specific job titles, but for present purposes they can be divided into three larger groups: general servi-cers, crew members, and warehousemen. General servicers are assigned to be on call for one week approximately one out of every ten weeks. Crew members are assigned to be on call for one week approximately one out of every five weeks. These one week assignments are made several months in advance. General servicers and crew members are expected to accept the calls they receive when on call, although they can “swap” on-call time with other employees. Warehousemen1 are not assigned specific on-call time, and may decline callouts. Plaintiffs argue the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) requires PSO to compensate them for the time they spend on call, but not working. PSO seeks summary judgment in its favor on plaintiffs’ claims.

I. Standard of Review

A motion for summary judgment shall be granted “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(a) “mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Adler v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 144 F.3d 664, 670 (10th Cir.1998). A court must examine the factual record in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. Wolf v. Prudential Ins. Co. of Am., 50 F.3d 793, 796 (10th Cir.1995).

When the moving party has carried its burden, “its opponent must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts ... Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party, there is no ‘genuine issue for trial.’ ” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (citations omitted). In essence, the inquiry for the court is “whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

ÍI. Analysis

The FLSA requires an employer to pay an employee for on-call time not actu[896]*896ally worked by the employee only in certain circumstances. Courts frame the ultimate question as whether the employee is ‘engaged to wait’ or ‘waiting to be engaged[.]” See Pabst v. Oklahoma Gas & Elec. Co., 228 F.3d 1128, 1132 (10th Cir.2000) (quoting Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S.134, 137, 65 S.Ct. 161, 89 L.Ed. 124 (1944)) (internal, alterations omitted). Alternatively, courts ask whether on-call time is spent predominately for the benefit of the employer or the employee.2 Id. (citing Armour & Co. v. Wantock, 323 U.S. 126, 133, 65 S.Ct. 165, 89 L.Ed. 118 (1944)).

In making this determination, thé court considers several factors, including any agreement between the parties, the nature and extent of any restrictions on the employee while on call, the relationship between the services rendered and the on-call time, and “all surrounding circumstances.” Id. (citing Boehm v. Kansas City Power & Light Co., 868 F.2d 1182, 1185 (10th Cir.1989) (citing in turn Skidmore, 323 U.S. at 137, 65 S.Ct. 161). The court should also assess “the degree to which the burden on the employee interferes with his or her personal pur suits”, by examining the “number of calls, [the] required response time, and [the employee’s] ability to engage in personal pursuits while on call.” Id (citing Armitage v. City of Emporia, 982 F.2d 430, 432 (10th Cir.1992) & Renfro v. City of Emporia, 948 F.2d 1529, 1537-38 (10th Cir.1991)).

A. Frequency of Callouts

Although the court is to consider all of the factors described above, one Tenth Circuit panel observed—after reviewing prior Circuit decisions on the subject—that the “critical distinction” between cases in which on-call time was found to be compensable and those in which it was not is “the frequency of calls.” Pabst, 228 F.3d at 1134. When assessing the frequency of calls, “the proper question is which [prior] case is most analogous.” Id. In cases in which courts have found on-call time compensable, the employee was usually called out multiple times in an average 24-hour period. See e.g., Renfro, 948 F.2d at 1537 (employees called out 3-5 times in a 24-hour period and had to respond within fifteen minutes); Pabst, 228 F.3d at 1131 (employees called out 3-5 times a night and were required to check their computers every fifteen minutes to see if they had received a call). By [897]*897contrast, courts have not found on-call time compensable when employees are called out only a few times a week on average. See e.g., Boehm v. Kansas City Power & Light Co., 868 F.2d 1182, 1183 (10th Cir.1989) (power company linemen called out no more than once a day and required to accept approximately one third of calls received); Armitage, 982 F.2d at 432 (police detectives “called in on average less than two times per week”); Andrews v. Town of Skiatook, 123 F.3d 1327, 1330 (10th Cir.1997) (EMT called out on 16-28% of on-call shifts).

In this case, plaintiffs calculate3 that they were called out4 on average between 32% and 34% of the days they were on call from 2012 to 2014, ranging from a low of 16% of on-call days—plaintiff Jeffords accepted callouts on 15 of 91 on-call days in 2012—to a high of 63% of on-call days— plaintiff Bunch accepted callouts on 12 of 19 on-call days in 2014. [See Dkt. # 205-46, p.

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Related

Armour & Co. v. Wantock
323 U.S. 126 (Supreme Court, 1944)
Skidmore v. Swift & Co.
323 U.S. 134 (Supreme Court, 1944)
Barrentine v. Arkansas-Best Freight System, Inc.
450 U.S. 728 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Andrews v. Town of Skiatook
123 F.3d 1327 (Tenth Circuit, 1997)
Adler v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
144 F.3d 664 (Tenth Circuit, 1998)
Braziel v. Tobosa Developmental Services
166 F.3d 1061 (Tenth Circuit, 1999)
Pabst v. Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co.
228 F.3d 1128 (Tenth Circuit, 2000)
Lyle G. Armitage, Jr. v. City of Emporia, Kansas
982 F.2d 430 (Tenth Circuit, 1993)
Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk
135 S. Ct. 513 (Supreme Court, 2014)
Boehm v. Kansas City Power & Light Co.
868 F.2d 1182 (Tenth Circuit, 1989)
Renfro v. City of Emporia
948 F.2d 1529 (Tenth Circuit, 1991)

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Bluebook (online)
180 F. Supp. 3d 893, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50801, 2016 WL 1558464, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/price-v-public-service-co-of-oklahoma-oknd-2016.