Pignataro v. Port Authority of NY and NJ - Third Circuit - January 27, 2010
This case concerns helicopter pilots, not likely to be our clients, but it cites important general principles of FLSA law.
Helicopter pilots were held to be not exempt as “professional” employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1), and therefore are entitled to mandatory time-and-a-half overtime compensation. The court award them two years of damages rather than three, because it concluded that the employer's FLSA violation was not willful.
The FLSA mandates that if an employee works more than forty hours per week, he must be compensated for overtime hours at a rate at least one-and-one-half times the employee’s regular rate. 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1). Employees who work in a “professional capacity,” however, are exempt from this rule.
Exemptions from the FLSA are to be narrowly construed against the employer, and the employer has the burden of establishing an exemption. Guthrie v. Lady Jane Collieries, Inc., 722 F.2d 1141, 1143 (3d Cir. 1983). Whether an employee is an exempt professional is a mixed question of law and fact.
To establish that the employer's violation of the FLSA was willful, plaintiffs must prove that the employer knew it was violating the FLSA or acted in reckless disregard of whether it was violating the FLSA. McLaughlin v. Richland Shoe Co., 486 U.S. 128, 133, 135 (1988). Whether a violation of the FLSA is willful is a question of fact that is reviewed for clear error. See Bianchi Trison Corp. v. Chao, 409 F.3d 196, 208 (3d Cir. 2005).
