Southwest Wants Supreme Court to Block Overtime Lawsuit
Reuters reports the carrier wants the highest court in the country to overturn a U.S. Court of Appeals decision which could open the door for lawsuits from workers and supervisors over alleged unpaid overtime.
Lawsuit Stems from Supervisors Claiming Alleged Overtime Pay
The original lawsuit against Southwest came from a supervisor in luggage handling, claiming the carrier owed them overtime pay. In a decision from the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, judges decided in favor of the worker, claiming handlers were directly involved with “interstate commerce.”
In most employee disputes, Federal Aviation Administration regulations require workers and companies to settle claims in arbitration. However, there is a narrow window of exemptions for a certain group of workers, including “seamen, railroad employees, or any other class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce.”
Attorneys for the plaintiff claimed that because the workers were directly handling luggage on aircraft coming from out of state and those leaving the state, they were involved in interstate commerce and should qualify for the exemption. Defense attorneys called that view a “sweeping interpretation” of the current regulations.
In questioning, the court focused on the definition of a worker involved in “interstate commerce.” While Judge Neil Gorsuch considered the notion that those loading cargo bound for another state met the definition, he also wanted it to be limited to those working directly in the supply chain. For example, the associate justice did not want to imply that last-mile delivery drivers – such as those working for Amazon – or those working on a website involved in national sales were involved in “interstate commerce.”
There is no timeline for the Supreme Court to issue an opinion on the matter.
Opinion Could Conflict with Previous Appeals Court Decision
If the Supreme Court decides to rule in favor of the baggage supervisors, it could upturn a previous decision made in a case against Lufthansa. In the German carrier’s case, the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said that baggage supervisors were outside of the definition of those working in “interstate commerce.”
A win for Southwest would continue a winning streak in courts where employees have challenged company policy. An October 2021 decision upheld the Dallas-based carrier’s deadline for employees to be inoculated against the virus causing COVID-19, dismissing the Southwest Airlines’ Pilots Association claims it should be negotiated over with the union.
Overtime is overtime - unless it's NOT overtime.
This seems very much like overtime.
Thoughts?
"I can't define "overtime"." " I am not a payroll clerk." Ketanji Jackson Brown
Sounds like a pretty good answer to me; that is what the trial is for. Someone who pretends to know everything is far more of a concern than someone who acknowledges their limitations.
Go read the actual case. Not about overtime but where the dispute is to be settled. These are supervisors not baggage handles. They are bound by an arbitration agreement. The supervisors want to get out of it by using a law that was written to cover railroad employees that travel with the train or seamen who travel on the ship. That is what the case is about: is it covered by arbitration like other airline disputes are covered or is a luggage supervisor a seaman. Should also note that Supreme also added another case involving arbitration so it appears this is something they are trying to clarify.
The opinion of the 7th Cir, is well written. SWA departed from the arbitration agreement by allowing supervisors to load and handle goods in interstate commerce (a third catch-all category behind seamen and railroad workers) as defined by the FAA (Federal Arbitration Act). Had SWA not permitted supervisors to act also as baggage handlers Saxon (the plaintiff) would have had a much weaker case. The problem for SWA is that past cases have held that railroad employees that handle baggage are involved in interstate commerce and that longshoremen and stevedores though not seamen are involved in international or interstate commerce.
Briefly listened to the arguments. Lots of disucssion about stevedores which went back and forth but seemed to lean a little in SWA favor but wharf-age* hurt them. My money is a narrow ruling (and a majority) in favor obecause of actually handling cargo but not ruling it applies to all airline employees (or other transportation employees, since Uber/Lyft were concerned about this too.) *Side note for some reason w h a r f a g e is a banned word by flyertalk ??