Eugene Scalia v. Essg, LLC, 951 F.3d 1097

ESSG, a staffing company, contracted with Sync Staffing and TBG Logistics to place workers and handle payroll; TBG maintained and sent timesheet spreadsheets via Sync to ESSG.
Michaela Haluptzok was ESSG’s sole payroll processor; she was trained on FLSA requirements and initially prepared overtime-pay reports.
A Sync employee instructed Haluptzok to record overtime hours as regular hours; Haluptzok complied and repeatedly dismissed payroll-software error warnings indicating unpaid overtime.
Over the course of the relationship (ending July 27, 2014) more than 1,000 overtime violations occurred; the Secretary sued in August 2016.
The district court granted summary judgment for the Secretary, found ESSG’s violations willful, awarded unpaid overtime (~$78,500) plus equal liquidated damages, and dismissed ESSG’s cross-claims for contribution/indemnity.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Employer liability for actions of low‑level payroll employee	ESSG is liable as employer; Haluptzok acted knowingly	Haluptzok was a low‑level employee; her acts shouldn’t bind ESSG	Imputed Haluptzok’s acts to ESSG as its agent; employer liable
Willfulness / statute of limitations	Secretary: violations were willful, 3‑year SOL applies	ESSG: violations not willful; 2‑year SOL should bar claim	Reckless disregard shown (dismissed warnings); willful; 3‑year SOL applies
Liquidated damages / good faith defense	Secretary: liquidated damages mandatory where no good faith	ESSG: could act in good faith despite willfulness	Willfulness precludes good faith; equal liquidated damages affirmed
Right to contribution/indemnification under FLSA	ESSG: FLSA’s joint liability implies right to contribution/indemnity	Secretary/others: FLSA does not imply such private remedies	No implied right under FLSA; no federal common law right created

United States v. Graf, 610 F.3d 1148 (9th Cir.) (agency principles binding corporate actors)
Forrester v. Roth's I.G.A. Foodliner, Inc., 646 F.2d 413 (9th Cir.) (employer liable if it knew or should have known of overtime work)
McLaughlin v. Richland Shoe Co., 486 U.S. 128 (1988) (definition of "willful" for FLSA statute of limitations)
Alvarez v. IBP, Inc., 339 F.3d 894 (9th Cir.) (reckless disregard supports willfulness and liability)
Chao v. A-One Medical Servs., Inc., 346 F.3d 908 (9th Cir.) (good faith inconsistent with willfulness for liquidated damages)
Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. Transp. Workers, 451 U.S. 77 (1981) (framework for implying private remedies under federal statutes)
Tex. Indus., Inc. v. Radcliff Materials, Inc., 451 U.S. 630 (1981) (joint-and-several liability does not automatically create contribution rights)
Herman v. RSR Security Servs. Ltd., 172 F.3d 132 (2d Cir.) (FLSA does not imply contribution/indemnity among employers)
Nat'l Soc'y of Prof'l Engineers v. United States, 435 U.S. 679 (1978) (when Congress expects courts to shape broad statutes)
Miller v. Gammie, 335 F.3d 889 (9th Cir. en banc) (precedent‑stare decisis on panel limits)
Ziglar v. Abbasi, 137 S. Ct. 1843 (2017) (caution in recognizing implied causes of action)