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OPA News Release: [08/31/2004]
Contact Name: Dolline
Hatchett
Phone Number: (202) 693-4651
U.S. Department of Labor Files Friend of the Court Brief
Supporting Low-Wage Worker
WASHINGTON—The Labor Department has filed a “friend of
the court” brief on behalf of a low-wage worker the federal district court
in Boston, Massachusetts concluded was not entitled to overtime compensation
under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The brief was filed with the United States
Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston.
The federal district court in Boston concluded that Megan McLaughlin,
who worked as a deckhand with Boston Harbor Cruise Lines, Inc., was not
entitled to overtime compensation because of a “seaman” exemption
under the Act. The department argued that its interpretation of the seaman
exemption, which has been in effect for 65 years, required that to be exempt
from overtime protection the employee must aid in the transportation or
navigation of the vessel. McLaughlin alleged that she primarily performed
duties such as taking passengers’ tickets.
The department specifically requested that the case be remanded to the
district court so that it can make further findings of fact and then apply the
department’s legal interpretation to those facts. Historically, the First
Circuit Court of Appeals and most other courts of appeals have followed the
department’s interpretation and determined that the “seaman”
exemption applies only to those individuals who actually aid in the
transportation or navigation of the vessel.
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