Balgowan v. State of N.J.
| Citation | 115 F.3d 214 |
| Decision Date | 16 May 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 95-5276,95-5276 |
| Parties | , 3 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1703 Richard M. BALGOWAN; Thomas M. Batz; Thomas Betten; Karl L. Blum; Raymond A. Burroughs; Dennis Carlson; John I. Corbo; Michael D. Cronin; Steffan Franklin; Herman J. Krieg; Joseph J. Lagullo; Chester J. Lyszczek; Albert M. Malatesta; Aram Mardekian; Ike Mardekian; William L. Munczinski; Alan S. Nass; Thomas M. Norris; Malcolm J. Palmer; John C. Powers; Francis F. Realini; Carl G. Rebbeck; Stanley F. Ripish; Emil H. Roessler; Wayne A. Rumsey; Richard F. Spoerl; Lawrence A. Sroka; John W. Stults; Robert L. Swain; Dennis R. Symons; John B. Taylor, Jr.; Charles A. Territo, Jr.; Peter W. Tomory; Alfred T. Woodrow; Daniel Yacovino; Charles W. Young; Richard Zolnowski, Appellants, v. STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Department of Transportation. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit) |
Steven P. Weissman, Weissman & Mintz, Somerset, NJ, for appellants.
Steven Sutkin, Office of New Jersey Attorney General, Division of Law/Transportation, Richard J. Hughes, Trenton, NJ, for appellee.
Before STAPLETON, COWEN and GARTH, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff-appellants, thirty-six project engineers and one supervising engineer (DOT engineers), filed this lawsuit against the State of New Jersey, Department of Transportation (State), in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. The lawsuit seeks overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. (1978). The DOT engineers alleged that the State violated the FLSA by failing to pay them "time and a half" for time worked in excess of 40 hours per week. The State responded that the DOT engineers are exempt professionals under the "salary-basis" test, 1 promulgated by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) and codified at 29 C.F.R. § 541.118, 29 C.F.R. § 541.5d (1996). The DOT engineers replied that because their wages are subject to reduction under the DOT's disciplinary policy, they are hourly workers and are not exempt under the DOL regulations.
The district court granted the State's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the DOT engineers' complaint. It held that the "salary-basis" test is not applicable to public employees such as the DOT engineers and, even if it were applicable, the engineers are exempt because the DOT has never actually deducted pay under its disciplinary policy.
The DOT engineers appealed, and on May 16, 1996, we affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded the case with instructions to enter summary judgment in favor of the DOT engineers awarding back-pay for overtime for the period commencing September 6, 1991. We held that the "salary-basis" test, as amended in September 1991, applies to the DOT engineers. However, we further held that the DOT engineers fail to satisfy the "salary-basis" test because the DOT's disciplinary policy subjects them to reductions in pay for non-safety related in fractions.
On March 27, 1996, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion that abruptly changed the law regarding Eleventh Amendment immunity. See Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 1114, 134 L.Ed.2d 252 (1996). Prior to Seminole, the Supreme Court had held that Congress could abrogate Eleventh Amendment immunity, subjecting states to private causes of action. See Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co., 491 U.S. 1, 109 S.Ct. 2273, 105 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989). Seminole overruled Union Gas and held that the Commerce Clause did not invest Congress with the authority to waive states' Eleventh Amendment immunity and to create private causes of action against states that had not consented to such suits. --- U.S. at ---- - ----, ---- - ----, 116 S.Ct. at 1127-28, 1131-32.
The State filed a petition for rehearing, relying in part on the Supreme Court's Seminole decision. By order dated July 9, 1996, we granted the State's petition for panel rehearing and vacated our May 16, 1996 opinion. See Balgowan v. State of New Jersey, Dept. of Transp., 84 F.3d 667 (3d Cir.1996). We ordered rebriefing by the parties, addressing, among other issues, the State's claim that the Supreme Court's decision in Seminole divested us of jurisdiction. On September 23, 1996, the DOT engineers filed their opening brief, and on November 22, 1996, the State filed its responsive brief. The DOT engineers filed their reply brief on December 31, 1996. On that same day the DOT engineers filed a motion to amend their complaint in order to add the DOT Commissioner as a defendant, and to include a claim for prospective declaratory and injunctive relief. The State objected to any such amendment.
We first address the DOT engineers' motion to amend. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21 provides that "[p]arties may be dropped or added by order of the court on motion of any party or of its own initiative at any stage of the action and on such terms as are just." FED.R.CIV.P. 21. "Although the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure strictly apply only in the district courts, [FED.R.CIV.P. 1], the policies informing Rule 21 may apply equally to the courts of appeals." Newman-Green, Inc. v. Alfonzo-Larrain, 490 U.S. 826, 832, 109 S.Ct. 2218, 2223, 104 L.Ed.2d 893 (1989). Rule 21 and an appellate power that "long predates the enactment of the Federal Rules" have been relied upon by appellate courts to both dismiss and add parties in order to maintain jurisdiction and standing. Id. at 834, 109 S.Ct. at 2223 (); see also Mullaney v. Anderson, 342 U.S. 415, 416-17, 72 S.Ct. 428, 429-30, 96 L.Ed. 458 (1952)(avoiding union's standing issue by granting motion to add two of its members as parties on appeal); Bhatla v. U.S. Capital Corp., 990 F.2d 780, 786 (3d Cir.1993) (). Resort to Rule 21 is appropriate where "requiring dismissal after years of litigation would impose unnecessary and wasteful burdens on the parties, judges, and other litigants waiting for judicial attention." Newman-Green, 490 U.S. at 836, 109 S.Ct. at 2225 (citing Mullaney, 342 U.S. at 417, 72 S.Ct. at 430).
The State argues that we should deny the DOT engineers' motion to amend the complaint because the engineers "waited seven months before presenting their motion." Appellee Br. in Opp'n. to Mot. to Amend Compl. at 11. It also claims that there is a lack of "express statutory authority to amend in the appellate court [and a] constitutional and statutory bar on the DOT engineer[s'] proposed claims for prospective declaratory and injunctive relief." Id. at 13. In light of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the relevant case law, the unexpected turn in the law as a result of Seminole, and the availability of declaratory relief, we do not find the State's arguments persuasive.
First, as we have previously stated, FED.R.CIV.P. 21 provides that plaintiffs may be permitted to add parties at any stage of the action, including in the court of appeals. FED.R.CIV.P. 21. See also Newman-Green, 490 U.S. at 832-33, 109 S.Ct. at 2222; Bhatla, 990 F.2d at 786. Second, given the change in the law effected by Seminole, we would be hard-pressed to fault the engineers for not having moved to amend the complaint sooner. Third, the State has not identified any prejudice to it resulting from the delay. See Newman-Green, 490 U.S. at 838, 109 S.Ct. at 2225-26. Finally, as will be discussed below, the DOT engineers are not precluded from seeking prospective declaratory relief. See Ex Parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 28 S.Ct. 441, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908). See also Laskaris v. Thornburgh, 661 F.2d 23, 26 (3d Cir.1981); Berman Enters., Inc. v. Jorling, 3 F.3d 602, 606-07 (2d Cir. 1993). Therefore, we grant the DOT engineers' motion to amend the complaint.
Now that we have permitted the DOT engineers' to amend their complaint, we must determine whether we have jurisdiction to address their claims. Under the teachings of Seminole, we do not have jurisdiction over the DOT engineers' claim against the State for monetary relief. Seminole, --- U.S. at ---- - ----, 116 S.Ct. at 1127-28. However, by allowing the DOT engineers to amend their complaint naming the DOT Commissioner as an additional party and adding a claim for prospective declaratory relief, we may retain jurisdiction under the doctrine of Ex Parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 128, 28 S.Ct. 441, 443-44, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908). In Ex Parte Young, the Supreme Court carved out an exception to Eleventh Amendment immunity by permitting citizens to sue state officials when the litigation seeks only prospective injunctive relief in order to end continuing violations of federal law. Id. The Ex Parte Young exception has been interpreted by courts to allow suits against state officials for both prospective injunctive and declaratory relief. See, e.g., Laskaris, 661 F.2d at 26;Berman, 3 F.3d at 606-07; Roller v. Cavanaugh, 984 F.2d 120, 122 (4th Cir.1993). Although Ex Parte Young 's exact wording allows suits for prospective injunctive relief, the 1908 opinion was issued well before declaratory relief was available. See Steffel v. Thompson, 415 U.S. 452, 466, 94 S.Ct. 1209, 1219, 39 L.Ed.2d 505 (1974) (In 1934 Congress enacted the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201-2202, in order "to provide a milder alternative to the injunction remedy.") (quoting Perez v. Ledesma, 401 U.S. 82, 111, 91 S.Ct. 674, 690, 27 L.Ed.2d 701 (1971) (Brennan, J. concurring in part and dissenting in part)).
Only the Secretary of Labor may initiate an action for injunctive relief under the FLSA. See 29 U.S.C. § 211(a)("Except as provided in section 212 of this title [child labor provisions], the Administrator [Secretary of Labor] 2 shall bring all...
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