Appeals Court Says Claim Against Black & Decker for Unpaid Overtime can Proceed
A district court has ruled that a former Stanley Black & Decker employee could not sue the company for unpaid overtime. However, a federal court of appeals disagreed and said he could in fact proceed.

August 13, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- A district court previously ruled that a former Stanley Black & Decker employee, Greg Kuebel, could not sue the company for unpaid overtime and other allegations of improper employer conduct. In early May 2011, however, a federal court of appeals said he could in fact proceed with his unpaid-overtime claim, signaling a victory for employees who challenge companies' unlawful and unfair treatment.

Employee's Unpaid Overtime

Stanley Black & Decker manufactures power tools and sells them in stores such as the Home Depot. To help sell their products, Black & Decker employs Retail Specialists assigned to certain Home Depot retail stores within designated territories. Retail Specialists' duties include setting up Black & Decker marketing displays, training Home Depot employees on the tools, and ensuring that Black & Decker's products are properly stocked, priced and displayed in the stores.

Greg Kuebel was a full-time Retail Specialist for Black & Decker and assigned to six stores within a 20-minute to three-hour drive from his home. To accomplish his required work duties, he says he frequently had to work overtime.

At Black & Decker's monthly meetings, though, Kuebel claims that managers indicated that employees were not to put more than 40 hours of work each week on their time sheets, regardless of the actual hours they worked. In addition, during a discussion with his manager, Kuebel said his timesheets were inaccurate and unfair because he was working more than 40 hours a week but not recording the extra hours. According to Kuebel's testimony, his manager then said, "You're only supposed to mark forty on your time card because we can't afford overtime."

Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit

Kuebel sued Black & Decker, claiming that, among other unlawful conduct, the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying employees for overtime work.

In response, Black & Decker filed a motion seeking to dismiss Kuebel's lawsuit. Black & Decker argued that a more concrete measure than Kuebel's recollection of the alleged overtime work is required to support his claim. Because Kuebel was responsible for his own timesheets, the company contended that any inaccuracies were "self-created" and therefore must be proven with specificity.

The district court sided with Black & Decker and dismissed Kuebel's lawsuit before it reached the trial stage. The court stated that the evidence Kuebel offered was insufficient to prove unpaid overtime work.

Court of Appeals Ruling

Kuebel appealed the dismissal, and a federal court of appeals ruled that he could proceed with his unpaid-overtime claim. The appellate court also instructed the district court to consider a second claim from Kuebel that he was fired in retaliation for complaining about unpaid overtime work.

In its ruling, the court of appeals reiterated that factual disputes between parties must be resolved through trial, not pre-trial motions. Accordingly, because Black & Decker challenges whether Kuebel actually worked overtime, the matter must proceed to trial so the factual dispute can be resolved by a judge or jury.

The court of appeals also stated that, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers have a duty to maintain accurate records of their employees' hours, and this duty is non-delegable. Therefore, even if employees complete and submit their timesheets, an employer bears ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the timesheets are accurate records of all hours worked by its employees.

Further, because the purpose of the Fair Labor Standards Act is to help wronged employees, and because a plaintiff's testimony generally must be accepted as true at the pre-trial motion stage, an employee making a claim under the Act only has to present enough evidence that an inference of unpaid overtime work is "just and reasonable." Kuebel met that low burden of proof, and the case should proceed to trial, the appellate court said.

When the district court trial occurs, a judge or jury will decide whether the evidence Kuebel presents of unpaid overtime work is reliable. If the judge or jury determines that Kuebel did work overtime but was not paid for it, he is entitled to monetary compensation.

Fair Labor Standards Act Damages

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees who bring successful claims for unpaid overtime are awarded their unpaid overtime compensation as well as "liquidated damages" equal to the amount of their unpaid overtime compensation.

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