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Employee Sues Employer For Alleged Failure to Pay Overtime? Make Sure To Be Specific


Landers v. Quality Communications, Inc. - Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals


Facts:  Landers was employed by Quality Communications as a cable service installer.  He subsequently brought suit on behalf of himself and other similarly situated individuals, and alleged that Quality failed to pay him minimum wages and overtime wages in violation of the Fair Labor and Standards Act ("FLSA").  Landers alleged that Quality failed to compensate him for all of the overtime hours he worked and/or the overtime rate at which he was paid was calculated using an incorrect rate, which apparently resulted in an overtime payment that was less than what was required by the FLSA.   

Quality filed a motion to dismiss the claim on the grounds that Landers failed to state a plausible claim for unpaid minimum wages.  The lower court granted the Quality's motion to dismiss the wage and hour claim.  

Holding:  The Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court's ruling and held that it is not enough for a complainant under the FLSA to merely allege that the employer failed to pay the employees minimum wages or overtime wages.  Rather, the allegations must plausibly state the claim that the employer failed to pay minimum wages or overtime wages.  

The Ninth Circuit pointed out that when a party makes a claim for unpaid overtime wages, the claimant must allege that he/she worked more than forty hours in a given workweek without being compensated for the hours worked in excess of forty hours.  A claimant, at a minimum, would have to alleged facts that showed there was a specific week in which the claimant was entitled to, but was denied minimum wages or overtime wages.  In this case, Landers need not necessarily have detailed factual allegations regarding the number of overtime hours worked, but the conclusory allegations were not sufficient to prevail on his FLSA claim. 

Judgment:  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's granting of Quality's motion to dismiss on the grounds that Landers conclusory allegations failed to allege facts which showed there was a specific week in which he was entitled to, but did not receive minimum wages or overtime wages. 

The Takeaway:  I think the Ninth Circuit got it right here.  Relying on a few older cases, the Court pointed to the fact that merely filing a complaint with conclusory statements that allege an employer's failure to pay minimum wages or overtime wages, likely is not sufficient to bring a valid FLSA claim.  For those employees looking at filing a similar suit, take note:  although detailed factual allegations are not necessarily required (but likely would not hurt), using conclusory statements in an attempt to prevail on an FLSA claim likely will not survive a motion to dismiss filed by the employer.

Majority Opinion Judge:  Judge Rawlinson

Date:  November 12, 2014

Opinion:  http://hr.cch.com/ELD/LandersQuality.pdf

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