Overtime Must Be Paid For Work Beyond 40 Hours Per Week

Edelmann v. Keuka College, ____F. Supp. ____(W.D.N.Y. April 10, 2017)(registration required), is a typical FLSA case. The plaintiff, a senior technical support technician claims that was entitled to overtime even though he was paid on the basis of a salary because he was not an exempt worker under the FLSA.

The court refused to dismiss the case and rejected the employer's claim that the plaintiff did not allege a violation of the FLSA, reasoning:

Here, Plaintiff alleges that he typically worked 50 hours per week as a salaried employee. ECF No. 1 at ¶31. Plaintiff alleges that, though he had a fixed schedule, he often performed work outside of his predetermined hours. Id. at ¶¶22-27. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that he was expected to be "on call" from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. for weeks at a time, id. ¶22, and that he frequently received calls after 10 p.m. Id. at ¶3. Additionally, Plaintiff alleges that he worked college events — like commencements, open houses, and orientations — outside of his normal working hours. Id. at ¶25. Further, Plaintiff alleges that he was required to work Defendant's yearly board meeting, which required him to be available to provide technical support at all times, including overnight. Id. at ¶26.
Those allegations give rise to a plausible inference that Plaintiff worked more than 40 hours in any given workweek. Like the plaintiffs in Nakahata, Plaintiff has not attached time values to each of the instances of extracurricular work that he alleges. See Nakahata, 723 F.3d at 200-201; ECF No. 1 at ¶¶22-27. But unlike the plaintiffs in Nakahata, who might not have had a standard 40-hour schedule in any given week, Plaintiff was a salaried employee who worked fulltime. Compare Nakahata, 723 F.3d at 199 (noting that the plaintiffs alleged "Plaintiffs and Class members regularly worked hours both under and in excess of forty per week") with ECF No. 1 at ¶30 ("Throughout his tenure with [Defendant], [Plaintiff] worked significantly more than 40 hours each and every week."). Plaintiff's allegations are more plausible than the allegations at issue in Lundy for the same reason. Any work performed in addition to his standard, fulltime schedule necessarily adds up to an amount great than 40 hours. Because Plaintiff has alleged that, in addition to his fulltime schedule, he frequently worked evenings and weekends, his allegations give rise to a plausible inference that he worked more than 40 hours per week. See ECF No. 1 at ¶¶22-27.