Boelter v. City of Coon Rapids

• Citation: 67 F.Supp.2d 1040
• Decision Date: 15 September 1999
• Docket Number: No. 99 Civ. 697 DDA/FLN.,99 Civ. 697 DDA/FLN.
• Parties: Kenneth BOELTER and Curtis Pargman, Plaintiffs, v. The CITY OF COON RAPIDS, a Municipal corporation, and Timothy Farmer, in his official capacity as Fire Chief of the City of Coon Rapids, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota

67 F.Supp.2d 1040

Kenneth BOELTER and Curtis Pargman, Plaintiffs, v. The CITY OF COON RAPIDS, a Municipal corporation, and Timothy Farmer, in his official capacity as Fire Chief of the City of Coon Rapids, Defendants.

No. 99 Civ. 697 DDA/FLN.

United States District Court, D. Minnesota.

September 15, 1999.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Mansfield, Tanick & Cohen, P.A., Marshall H. Tanick, Minneapolis, MN, for plaintiffs.

Julie Fleming-Wolfe, St. Paul, MN, for defendant.

ORDER

ALSOP, Senior District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment. In this case, two firefighters from the City of Coon Rapids (the "City") allege that the City's policy regarding military leave conflicts with various state and federal statutes. They bring this action against the City and Timothy Farmer, in his official capacity as the Fire Chief of the City, asking the Court to enjoin enforcement of the policy and to award damages for loss of pay, including overtime. Plaintiffs also seek an Order, together with damages, requiring Defendants to rescind all disciplinary action taken against them for refusing to follow orders implementing the City's policy. For the reasons set forth below, the Court will grant Plaintiffs' motion in part and deny it in part, and grant Defendants' motion in part and deny it in part.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs Kenneth Boelter and Curtis Pargman are firefighters for the City of Coon Rapids. They are also members of the United States Air Force Reserves. As firefighters, Boelter and Pargman are required to work 24-hour shifts, from 8:00 a.m. one morning to 8:00 a.m. the next. Plaintiffs, on average, work seven of these 24-hour shifts every three weeks. This works out to be 168 hours for every 21-day cycle. Under the collective bargaining agreement between the City and the International Association of Firefighters Union Local No.1935, of which both Plaintiffs are members, Plaintiffs are entitled to compensation at an overtime rate of one and one-half times their normal rate for all overtime in excess of 159 hours in a 21-day cycle. Plaintiffs are entitled to the same amount of overtime compensation for all hours worked in excess of 159 hours under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. § 207(k), assuming they are actually on duty with the fire department during this time. Thus, under both the collective bargaining agreement and the FLSA, Plaintiffs are entitled to overtime compensation for nine hours of work if they have not missed a shift during a 21-day cycle.

At times, Plaintiffs' responsibilities in the Reserves coincide with their shifts with the fire department. As members of the Reserves, they are required to report to duty for two weeks per year and at least one weekend per month. Both Boelter and Pargman also put in additional time with the Reserves, devoting approximately 65 days in total each year to military service. Their shifts in the Reserves generally run from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., though they will last longer on occasion.

Until January, 1999, the City allowed firefighters serving in the military to take their entire 24-hour work shift as military leave. Moreover, the City paid firefighters at their regular rate for the entire 24-hour period for up to 15 days of military leave. The City did not, however, take into account time spent on military leave during these 15 days for purposes of calculating overtime.

Sometime in the fall of 1998, Plaintiffs asked their Fire Chief, Timothy Farmer, to review the City's policy in light of state and federal military leave laws. Plaintiffs requested the Fire Chief to review the statutes because they believed that the hours they took for military leave should count towards the hours worked for purposes of overtime. According to Plaintiffs, they were entitled to up to 15 days of paid military leave under Minn.Stat. § 192.26, and argued that the leave extended for their entire 24-hour shift. Moreover, they contended that all 24 hours spent on military leave for these 15 days must be counted as hours worked for purposes of calculating overtime under the FLSA.

After reviewing the relevant state and federal laws, however, the Fire Chief reached a different conclusion. Under his reading of Minn.Stat. § 192.26, public employees are not entitled to any pay, and their hours do not count towards overtime, unless they return to work "immediately" after their military duties end. As support, the Fire Chief relied upon a provision in the statute which provides that the employee must return to his or her position "immediately on being relieved from such military or naval service and not later than the expiration of the time herein limited for such leave." Minn.Stat. § 192.26, subd. 1 (emphasis added). The word "immediately," according to the Fire Chief, means that persons such as Boelter and Pargman cannot take their entire 24-hour shift as military leave, but must proceed directly from their military post to the fire department to be entitled to pay for their military leave.

The City, consistent with the Fire Chief's views, therefore instituted a new policy, the subject of which forms the basis for this lawsuit.¹ Under the new policy, firefighters who serve in the military must return to their work shifts at the fire department "immediately" after their shift in the military ends if they want to be paid under Minn.Stat. § 192.26. If the firefighters return "immediately," they are entitled to be paid for the entire 24-hour shift for a period of up to 15 days. In addition, all 24 hours, inclusive of the military leave time, count towards overtime. If the firefighters do not return to work "immediately" on being relieved from military service, they receive military pay only for the time in training or active service. However, firefighters are allowed to use accumulated vacation or holiday pay to make up the balance of the 24-hour shift.

In addition, as part of the new policy, the City requires each employee to submit a Military Time - Pay Request form prior to taking leave if possible, and after military duty with their payroll sheets, in order to receive pay for military leave. Plaintiffs were first made aware of this form in a memorandum dated March 5, 1999. At that time, Pargman, at least, told the Fire Chief that he wanted to discuss the matter with his attorney before filling out the form. The parties dispute whether Pargman consulted his attorney or whether he acted on his own volition but, in any event, Pargman later refused to fill out the form because, he said, it violated the reporting requirements under state and federal law. Pargman was subsequently given an oral reprimand for his failure to follow the Fire Chief's order to fill out the form. A letter detailing the oral reprimand is in Pargman's personnel file.²

Plaintiffs challenged the City's policy and the disciplinary action in state court, raising several state and federal claims. Plaintiffs named as Defendants the City and Timothy Farmer, in his official capacity as Fire Chief of the City. Defendants removed the action to this Court under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b) based on federal question jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. § 1331.³ Count I alleges that the City's policy violates Minn. Stat. § 192.26. Count II alleges that it violates the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 ("USERRA"), 38 U.S.C. § 4312. Counts III and IV allege that the policy improperly restricts and impairs Plaintiffs' rights to overtime compensation in violation of the FLSA and the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act, Minn.Stat. § 177.25. Finally, Count V alleges that the disciplinary reprimand constitutes a violation of Minnesota's Whistleblower Act, Minn.Stat. § 181.932.

The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Plaintiffs moved for partial summary judgment on Counts I, II, III, and IV. Plaintiffs seek a determination of liability under these Counts, and ask the Court to award equitable relief. Plaintiffs also moved for summary judgment on their request for equitable relief enjoining and requiring Defendants to rescind all disciplinary action taken against Pargman for his objection to the City's policy, and to remove all documentation concerning any such discipline from his records and files.⁴ Defendants moved for summary judgment on all Counts.

DISCUSSION

Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure authorizes summary judgment if there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). Both parties agreed at oral argument that the matter is ripe for summary judgment, at least on Counts I through IV. The Court therefore turns to the parties' arguments.

I. Minn.Stat. § 192.26

In Count I, Plaintiffs contend that the City's policy violates Minn.Stat. § 192.26. This statute provides that, subject to certain conditions, public employees are entitled to take military leave without loss of pay or other employment benefits for a period of up to 15 days. It says:

Subject to the conditions hereinafter prescribed, any officer or employee of the state or of any political subdivision municipal corporation, or other public agency of the state ... who shall be a member of the officers' reserve corps, the enlisted reserve corps, the naval reserve, the marine corps reserve, or any other reserve component of the military or naval forces of the United States ... shall be entitled to leave of absence from the public office or employment without loss of pay, seniority status, efficiency rating, vacation, sick leave, or other benefits for all the time when engaged with such organization or component in training or actual service ... but not exceeding a total of 15 days in any calendar year.

Minn.Stat. § 192.26, subd. 1. According to Plaintiffs, this statute requires governmental employers to allow their employees up to 15 days of paid military leave, and that any military leave...