Schmitt v. State of Kan.
| Decision Date | 18 February 1994 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 91-4213-DES & 91-4215-DES. |
| Citation | 844 F. Supp. 1449 |
| Parties | Marshall E. SCHMITT, Terry L. Morgan, and Richard J. Marchewka, on behalf of themselves and other employees similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. The STATE OF KANSAS, Defendant. Jeffrey L. COLLIER, Robert S. McKinzie, Charles L. Kohler, and Stephen P. O'Rourke, on behalf of themselves and other employees similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. The STATE OF KANSAS, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Kansas |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
Patricia E. Riley, Weathers & Riley, Brad E. Avery, Kansas Ass'n of Public Employees, Topeka, KS, for plaintiffs.
Carl A. Gallagher, Office of the Atty. Gen., C. Steven Rarrick, Linda J. Fund, State of Kansas, Dept. of Administration-Legal Section, Roger L. Brazier, Jr., Kansas Dept. of Wildlife & Parks, Topeka, KS, for defendant.
This matter is before the court on defendant the State of Kansas' ("the State") motion for summary judgment and plaintiffs' cross-motion for partial summary judgment. This is a consolidated action in which plaintiffs, past and present employees of the Kansas Highway Patrol ("KHP"), Kansas Bureau of Investigation ("KBI"), and Kansas Wildlife and Parks Department ("KWPD"), seek recovery under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") for alleged unpaid straight time and overtime. Plaintiffs make the following three claims: (1) all plaintiffs were wrongfully denied straight time pay at their regular rate for all hours worked between 160 and 171; (2) plaintiffs who were paid shift differential were wrongfully denied appropriate overtime pay; and (3) plaintiffs who were paid longevity pay in a given year and who received overtime pay in that year were wrongfully denied appropriate overtime pay.
The State moves for summary judgment (Doc. 393) on plaintiffs' straight time and longevity-related overtime claims. For the reasons set forth in this Memorandum and Order, the State's motion (Doc. 393) is denied.
Plaintiffs move for partial summary judgment (Doc. 394) on each of their three claims as to liability only. For the reasons set forth in this Memorandum and Order, plaintiffs' motion (Doc. 394) is granted in part and denied in part.
There are 401 plaintiffs. Each plaintiff is or was a full-time classified employee of the State employed in a law enforcement position partially exempt under 29 U.S.C. § 207(k). The 401 plaintiffs can be separated into the following two groups: (1) the Collier plaintiffs, composed of 341 KHP troopers, sergeants, and pilots; and (2) the Schmitt plaintiffs, composed of 42 KBI Special Agents I, II, and III and 18 Conservation Officers in the KWPD.
The State designated a deviation from the standard 40 hour work week for all plaintiffs. Plaintiffs work up to 171 non-overtime hours in a single 28-day work period. Accordingly, plaintiffs are not due overtime pay until they work more than 171 hours in a single 28-day work period.
A state administrative regulation, K.A.R. 1-5-21, requires employees to be paid on either a monthly or hourly salary basis at the option of the appointing authority. On approximately the first of each month, Kansas pays each plaintiff 1/12 of the annual salary earned in the preceding pay period. The total annual compensation when divided by the total annual non-overtime hours worked for each plaintiff has always been greater than minimum wage. Additionally, none of the plaintiffs has ever received less than minimum wage when the amount of salary for the work period is divided by the amount of non-overtime hours worked in that work period.
Each class of positions in the classified service is assigned to a pay range on the State Pay Plan. The Director of the Division of Personnel Services within the Department of Administration is required to prepare schedules showing the salary range for each class of positions. The Director recommends to the Governor salaries for each class of classified positions.
The State Pay Plan consists of four schedules: annual, monthly, hourly, and overtime. Each entry in the monthly schedule is 1/12 the corresponding entry in the annual schedule; each entry in the hourly schedule is 1/2080 of the corresponding entry in the hourly annual schedule; and each entry in the overtime schedule is 1½ times the corresponding entry in the hourly schedule.1
The standard work week for all classified state employees is 40 hours, except that any agency head may designate a deviation from the standard for particular classes of employees. All three agencies involved in this lawsuit have designated deviations of 171 hours in a 28 day work period for the classes of employees to which plaintiffs belong.
The Kansas State Troopers Association ("KSTA") is the exclusive representative for the Collier plaintiffs. The KHP and the KSTA have entered into several Memorandum of Agreements ("MOAs") since 1985. The 1986-1987 MOA was in effect from October 1, 1986, to July 1, 1987, and was renewed under its terms for successive one-year periods through December 1, 1988. The 1988-1989 MOA was in effect from December 1, 1988, to July 1, 1989, and was renewed under its terms for successive one-year periods until January 1, 1992. The 1991-1993 MOA was in effect on January 1, 1992, and shall remain in effect until July 1, 1993.
The MOAs for 1986-1987, 1988-1989, and 1991-1993, contain the following "SALARIES" section:
The MOAs also contain the following "WORK SCHEDULE" section:
The Schmitt plaintiffs (i.e., the KBI agents and KWPD conservation officers) neither negotiated through a bargaining representative nor entered into negotiated MOAs.
A Kansas administrative regulation, K.A.R. 1-5-28, authorizes agencies to pay a shift differential to classified employees. The shift differential rate was $.20 per hour until June 30, 1989, and $.25 per hour from July 1, 1989, to the present.
In each MOA since 1985, the State has agreed to pay shift differential to eligible KHP troopers. For example, Article VI § 4 of the 1988 MOA provides as follows:
The Superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol has determined that the employees of the appropriate unit are eligible for shift differential. The Patrol and the Association agree that members of the appropriate unit that are eligible for overtime, shall receive shift differential pay in accordance with the provisions of K.A.R. 1-5-28; however, this is subject to obtaining the necessary approvals and funding which will be requested by the Patrol.
The State has considered shift differential when calculating plaintiffs' overtime pay since June 18, 1992. Specifically, shift differential pay has been entered into the KIPPS central computer system since June 18, 1992, using the appropriate FLSA screens so that the calculation of the regular rate includes shift differential for all Collier plaintiffs.
A Kansas statute, K.S.A. 75-5541, authorizes a once per year longevity payment. The longevity payment does not accrue until the employee has completed ten years of satisfactory service with the State. Thereafter, the longevity payment is made annually following the employee's service anniversary date.
Longevity pay increases a plaintiff's regular rate of pay. Therefore, once it is received, all overtime paid in the previous 12 months is recalculated and additional overtime is paid. The State's formula for recalculating overtime pay upon receipt of longevity pay is as follows:
Longevity pay divided by 2080 hours = increase in hourly rate. Increase in hourly rate multiplied by total hours of overtime in preceding twelve months multiplied by .5 = additional overtime pay.
Prior to implementing the longevity pay policy, the State sought and received clarification from the Department of Labor regarding the proper method for including longevity pay into the overtime pay calculation. Ron Dean, Regional Director of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor, and Terry Burger, Kansas City District Director for the Department of Labor, orally approved the State's formula for recalculating overtime pay upon receipt of a longevity payment.
A court shall render summary judgment upon a showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). The rule provides that "the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1985). The substantive law identifies which issues are material. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. A dispute over a material fact is...
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...further explanation. 972 F.2d at 1155. The same district judge who decided Lamon decided a similar gap time issue in Schmitt v. Kansas, 844 F.Supp. 1449 (D.Kan. 1994) (denying defense motion for summary judgment), and Schmitt v. Kansas, 864 F.Supp. 1051 (D.Kan.1994) (findings after court tr......
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Monahan v. County of Chesterfield, Va.
...a claim that plaintiffs were wrongfully denied "straight time pay at their regular rate for all hours worked between 160 and 171." Id. at 1451. Like the Lamon plaintiffs, the Schmitt plaintiffs were employed on a 28-day/171 hour overtime threshold pay period. Id. at 1452 . The plaintiffs c......
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