O'Connor v. Oakhurst Dairy - 851 F.3d 69 (1st Cir. 2017)
Subject: Statutory Construction
FACTS
Plaintiffs Kevin O'Connor
and four others ("Drivers") worked as delivery drivers for defendant
Oakhurst Dairy ("Oakhurst"). The Drivers filed a lawsuit against
Oakhurst in federal district court seeking unpaid overtime wages under the
federal Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C.S.
201 et seq., and the Maine overtime law, 26 M.R.S.A. 664(3).
The matter was referred to a magistrate judge,
and the parties filed cross-motions for partial summary judgment to resolve
their dispute over whether the Drivers were covered by Exemption F of Maine's
minimum wage and overtime law. Exemption F stated that the protection of the
overtime law did not apply to certain listed occupations, and particularly work
that involved the "packing for shipment or distribution" of
agricultural produce, meat and fish products, and perishable foods.
The Drivers contended that
they fell outside of Exemption F and thus the overtime law protected them.
Oakhurst argued to the contrary. The magistrate judge recommended that
Oakhurst's motion for summary judgment be granted, and that the Drivers' motion
be denied. The district court adopted the magistrate's recommendation and
granted Oakhurst summary judgment. The Drivers appealed.
ISSUE
Whether or not the drivers
fall within Exemption F of Maine's overtime law.
RULING
No.
The appellate court
reversed the district court's decision and remanded the matter for further
proceedings. The court observed that 664(3) omitted a final comma after the
word "shipment," and thus there was an ambiguity as to whether
it referred to two distinct exempt activities—"packing for shipment"
and "distribution," and the act's legislative history did not cure
that ambiguity.
Maine's default rule of
construction, which required that wage and hours law be liberally construed to
further its remedial purpose, favored a narrow reading, such as that urged by
the Drivers. The court adopted the Drivers' interpretation: 664(3) referred to
the single activity of "packing," whether the "packing" was
for "shipment" or for "distribution," and although the
Drivers handled perishable foods, they did not engage in "packing"
them. As a result, the Drivers fell outside Exemption F.
Exemption
F covers employees whose work involves the handling—in one way or another—of
certain, expressly enumerated food products. Specifically, Exemption F states
that the protection of the overtime law does not apply to: The canning,
processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for
shipment or distribution of: (1) Agricultural produce; (2) Meat and fish
products; and (3) Perishable foods. Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 26, 664(3)(F).
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