Raper v. State
| Decision Date | 06 October 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-0255.,03-0255. |
| Citation | 688 N.W.2d 29 |
| Parties | Clifford Daniel RAPER, et al., Appellants, v. The STATE of Iowa and the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Appellees. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Pamela J. Walker and Mark D. Sherinian of Sherinian & Walker, P.C., Des Moines, for appellants.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Gordon E. Allen, Deputy Attorney General, and Kerry K. Anderson, Assistant Attorney General, for appellees.
Current and former peace officers brought an action against the State of Iowa and the Iowa Department of Public Safety (Department) for overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Because we agree with the district court's decision that: (1) the sergeants are exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA; (2) the State's policy of requiring the peace officers to take leave for absences of less than a day in connection with sick leave and personal leave does not violate the FLSA's salary-basis test; (3) the peace officers are not entitled to overtime pay from November 5, 1995, to the present on the basis the State permitted them to work overtime; (4) the peace officers are not entitled to interest on their damages from the date of filing their action in state court; (5) the peace officers' meal time is compensable; (6) the statute of limitations was tolled by the filing of a previous federal action, which was dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction; and (7) the district court was correct in not utilizing the eighty-six hour/fourteen-day 29 U.S.C. § 207(k) (1988) work period allowed for law enforcement personnel, we affirm the district court as to those matters. We, however, conclude the State must compensate the peace officers for their drive time and reverse the district court as to that issue. Therefore, we affirm the district court's judgment in part, reverse it in part, and remand the case to the district court to determine the damages, if any, for the drive time of the peace officers consistent with this decision.
Plaintiffs are 147 current and former peace officers employed by the Department. Included in the list of plaintiffs are sergeants, who perform a variety of duties in the following job classifications: assistant district commander/road sergeant, vehicle theft sergeant, capitol security sergeant, governor's detail, planning and training officer, air wing administration officer, public information officer, computerization and technology sergeant, technical accident investigation coordinator, internal affairs officer, motor carrier safety assistance program coordinator, and safety education coordinator.
Plaintiffs originally filed their action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa on May 2, 1994, claiming they were entitled to overtime compensation under the FLSA. The State moved to dismiss the federal action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Pending a decision by the federal district court on the motion to dismiss, the peace officers filed the present action in state court as an FLSA action in April 1996. On June 21, 1996, the federal court dismissed the action concluding it did not have subject matter jurisdiction to hear the case. Raper v. Iowa, 940 F.Supp. 1421, 1427 (S.D.Iowa 1996). The peace officers later amended the present action to include claims under chapter 91A of the Iowa Code, Iowa's Wage Payment Collection Law, and for breach of contract. In June 1997, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of the federal case. Raper v. Iowa, 115 F.3d 623, 624 (8th Cir.1997).
The state district court dismissed the present case based on the "window of correction regulation, which allows an employer to preserve an employee's exempt status under the FLSA if it corrects past violations of the salary [basis] test, which the employer is required to meet." Anthony v. State, 632 N.W.2d 897, 899 (Iowa 2001)1 (citing 29 C.F.R. § 541.118(a)(6) (1991)).2 On appeal, this court initially affirmed the district court's decision, but it later granted a rehearing, reversed the district court, and held because the State had a policy of imposing deductions from pay for disciplinary reasons, the "window of corrections" doctrine did not apply. Id. at 904-05. The court remanded the case to the district court with directions to grant summary judgment in favor of the peace officers on the issue of liability and to proceed as necessary to determine damages. Id. at 905.
On remand, the district court determined the peace officers were not entitled to relief under chapter 91A or under a contract theory. The district court resolved the remaining issues regarding liability and damages under the FLSA. Applicable to this appeal, the district court concluded: (1) certain sergeants were exempt employees and were not eligible for overtime pay; (2) the State did not have to compensate any of the peace officers for the time they spent driving between home and work, with the exception of road sergeants who could be compensated for their drive time on a particular day when they were actually working road duty; (3) meal periods were compensable; (4) the State's policy requiring employees to take vacation, sick, or other forms of leave for absences of less than a day did not violate the FLSA's salary-basis test; (5) the peace officers were not entitled to overtime after the Commissioner of the Department (Commissioner) issued an order prohibiting overtime without obtaining prior permission; (6) the peace officers were not entitled to interest on their damages from the date of filing their action in state court; (7) the statute of limitations was tolled by the filing of the federal action; and (8) the State is not allowed to utilize a 207(k) work period for the period prior to November 5, 1995.
The district court calculated overtime wages at one and one-half times the eligible peace officers' regular pay based on a forty-hour work period. The district court also awarded liquidated damages in an amount equal to overtime damages. In all, the district court awarded the eligible peace officers nearly $5.5 million in damages for the period beginning on May 2, 1991, with liability ending during the work week of November 5, 1995.
The peace officers raise the following issues on appeal: (1) whether the sergeants are exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA; (2) whether the peace officers who were not awarded compensation for their drive time by the district court are entitled to be compensated for their drive time; (3) whether the State's policy of requiring peace officers to take leave for absences of less than a day in connection with sick leave and personal leave violates the FLSA's salary-basis test; (4) whether the peace officers are entitled to overtime pay from November 5, 1995, to the present on the basis the State permitted them to work overtime; and (5) whether the peace officers are entitled to interest on their damages from the date of filing their action in state court.
The State raises the following issues on appeal: (1) whether the peace officers' meal period is compensable; (2) whether the statute of limitations was tolled by the filing of the federal action; and (3) whether the district court erred in failing to utilize the eighty-six hour/fourteen-day 207(k) work period allowed for law enforcement personnel. We will set out the facts as they relate to the issues.
Our review is for errors at law. Iowa R.App. P. 6.4. The trial court's factual findings are binding on appeal if supported by substantial evidence. Iowa R.App. P. 6.14(6)(a). When a party challenges a district court's ruling for lack of substantial evidence, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the judgment. Frank Millard & Co. v. Housewright Lumber Co., 588 N.W.2d 440, 441 (Iowa 1999). When a reasonable mind would accept the evidence as adequate to reach a conclusion, the evidence is substantial. Fiala v. Rains, 519 N.W.2d 386, 387 (Iowa 1994). Evidence is not insubstantial merely because we may draw different conclusions from it; the ultimate question is whether it supports the finding actually made, not whether the evidence would support a different finding. Sahu v. Bd. of Med. Exam'rs, 537 N.W.2d 674, 676-77 (Iowa 1995). However, neither the district court's conclusions of law nor its application of its legal conclusions is binding on appeal. Fausel v. JRJ Enters., Inc., 603 N.W.2d 612, 617 (Iowa 1999). The burden of proving exempt status is on the employer. McAllister v. Transamerica Occidental Life Ins. Co., 325 F.3d 997, 999 (8th Cir.2003).
The FLSA directs which employees are entitled to overtime compensation. 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1). The overtime provisions of the FLSA do not apply to an employee employed in "bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity." Id. § 213(a)(1). Congress delegated the responsibility to define these terms to the Secretary of Labor. Id. Under the rules promulgated by the Secretary, three tests must be satisfied for an executive, administrative, or professional employee to be exempt: a "duties" test (29 C.F.R. § 541.1-.2); a "salary-level" test (29 C.F.R. § 541.1(f), 541.2(e)(1)); and a "salary-basis" test (29 C.F.R. § 541.118). Certain sergeants claim there is ongoing liability for overtime under the FLSA because they do not perform executive or administrative duties pursuant to the "duties" test. The resolution of whether the sergeants are exempt from the overtime provisions requires us to examine the "duties" test.
The regulations contain a "short test" and "long test" to determine whether an employee is employed in an executive or administrative capacity under the duties test. See 29 C.F.R. § 541.1-.2. The short test applies if an employer compensates an employee on a salary basis at a rate not less than $250 per week....
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