Alexander v. Sara, Inc.
| Decision Date | 12 December 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-3227,83-3227 |
| Parties | 26 Wage & Hour Cas. (BN 900, 99 Lab.Cas. P 34,474 George ALEXANDER, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. SARA, INCORPORATED and Dr. Harry L. Shaheen, Defendants-Appellees. Summary Calendar. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Beard & Shea, John R. Shea, Baton Rouge, La., for plaintiffs-appellants.
Winfield E. Little, Jr., Lake Charles, La., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.
Before BROWN, TATE and HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judges.
The issue presented by this appeal is whether inmates at a state penitentiary, who perform work for a profit-making private entity conducting operations on prison grounds, are as to that private company within the coverage of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. Secs. 201 et seq. ("the Act") and thus entitled to be paid minimum wages by it for their services performed for it. The plaintiffs appeal from dismissal of their suit upon summary judgment. 559 F.Supp. 42 (M.D.La.1983). We affirm.
The factual circumstances, briefly, are that the state Department of Corrections entered into a contract with the defendant Sara, Inc., 1 by which Sara established a blood-plasma program on penitentiary grounds. Under the terms of the agreement, the inmates are compensated at the rate of three dollars per day, which Sara pays to the state agency, which in turn deposits the amounts earned to the individual inmate's prison account. Under the contract, although the state agency reserved the right to veto the assignment of inmates to work in the plasma laboratory, the inmates were engaged by Sara and worked under its direct supervision, with the agency responsible only for security at the facility. The inmates so engaged worked at sanitation and clean-up, helped to prepare donors and extract blood, and performed clerical duties.
The Act defines "employee" as "any individual employed by an employer." 29 U.S.C. Sec. 203(e)(1). The term "employ" is defined as including "to suffer or permit to work." 29 U.S.C. Sec. 203(g). On the surface, at least, Sara's relationship with the inmates appears to have all the characteristics of an employment relationship, even though the state agency had the ultimate authority over the inmates. See, e.g., Castillo v. Givens, 704 F.2d 181, 188-92 (5th Cir.1983).
The district court concluded that, nevertheless, the inmates were not covered by the Act. The essential reasons for its conclusion were (a) that there was no employer-employee relationship, because the inmates' labor belonged to the penitentiary, which was the sole party to the contract with Sara, and (b) that the Congressional concern in enacting the Act was with the standard of living and general well-being of the worker in American industry, so that the extension to the prison inmate was not legislatively contemplated.
This conclusion is in accord with all the sparse prior decisions on the issue: Huntley v. Gunn Furniture Co., 79...
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Owino v. Corecivic, Inc., Case No.: 17-CV-1112 JLS (NLS)
...well-being" of the worker in the American industry. Id. (quoting Alexander v. Sara, Inc., 559 F. Supp. 42 (M.D. La.), aff'd. 721 F.2d 149 (5th Cir. 1983)). Because detainees were removed fromthe American economy, they were not employees under FLSA. While the factual situation between this c......
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...Miller v. Dukakis, 961 F.2d 7 (1st Cir.) (same), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1024, 113 S.Ct. 666, 121 L.Ed.2d 590 (1992); Alexander v. Sara, Inc., 721 F.2d 149 (5th Cir.1983) (same); McMaster v. State of Minnesota, 30 F.3d 976 (8th Cir.1994) (same), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 1116, 13......
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...employers under the economic reality test. Gilbreath v. Cutter Biological, Inc., 931 F.2d 1320 (9th Cir.1991); Alexander v. Sara, Inc., 721 F.2d 149 (5th Cir.1983); Sims v. Parke Davis & Co., 334 F.Supp. 774 (E.D.Mich.), aff'd. 453 F.2d 1259 (6th Cir.1971), cert. denied, 405 U.S. 978, 92 S.......
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...Use Indus. Envelope Shop Inmates, 990 F.2d 131, 133 (4th Cir. Mar. 24, 1993) (quoting Vanskike; citing Gilbreath ); Alexander v. SARA, Inc., 721 F.2d 149, 150 (5th Cir.1983) ("there was no employer-employee relationship, because the inmates' labor belonged to the penitentiary"). Cf. Alvarad......
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Wages, hours, and overtime
...Likewise, prisoners who work inside a prison for a private employer are also not employees under the FLSA. Alexander v. Sara, Inc. , 721 F.2d 149, 150 (5th Cir. 1983). Finally, work-release prisoners who workoutside prison for a private employer are not FLSA employees of the prison. Reimone......
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Wages, Hours, and Overtime
...Likewise, prisoners who work inside a prison for a private employer are also not employees under the FLSA. Alexander v. Sara, Inc. , 721 F.2d 149, 150 (5th Cir. 1983). Finally, work-release prisoners who workoutside prison for a private employer are not FLSA employees of the prison. Reimone......
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Wages, Hours, and Overtime
...(5th Cir. 2006). Prisoners who work inside prison for private employers are also not employees under the FLSA. Alexander v. Sara, Inc., 721 F.2d 149, 150 (5th Cir. 1983). Finally, work-release prisoners working outside the prison for a private employer are not FLSA employees of the prison. ......
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Table of cases
...U.S. 287 (1985), §§21:7.B.1, 21:7.H.1 Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co. , 415 U.S. 36 (1974), §§18:7.C.1.c, 23:7 Alexander v. Sara, Inc., 721 F.2d 149, 150 (5th Cir. 1983), §§9:1, 9:1.B.1.h Alford v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. , 905 F.2d 104 (5th Cir. 1990), on remand , 939 F.2d 229 (5th Cir.......