412 F.Supp.3d 1266
D. Or.2019Background:
- Silver Ridge is a Class Two adult foster care home with five elderly residents and is not required by Oregon law to employ medical professionals.
- Llanes was hired in 2014 as the sole resident care manager, providing 24-hour care (meals, medication administration, hygiene assistance, housekeeping, mail and deliveries) but did not diagnose or prescribe medication.
- Compensation: $3,000/month plus room and board; Llanes worked ~75 hours/week and received no overtime.
- Llanes asked that her fiancé move in; seven months later Defendants terminated her, changed the locks, and left her belongings outside.
- Procedural posture: cross-motions for summary judgment on FLSA claims and state counterclaims; Defendants also moved to dismiss Llanes’ counterclaims for lack of jurisdiction.
- Disposition: Court granted Defendants’ summary judgment on Llanes’ FLSA claims, denied Llanes’ summary judgment, declined supplemental jurisdiction over state-law counterclaims, and dismissed those counterclaims without prejudice.
Issues:
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Llanes qualifies for individual FLSA coverage as an employee "engaged in commerce" | Llanes regularly bought out-of-state-origin food/medication, received interstate mail, and processed interstate deliveries—so she engaged in interstate commerce | These activities are purely local/consumer handling; merely buying or receiving goods that once moved interstate does not make an employee "engaged in commerce" | No individual coverage: court held Llanes’ tasks were local and not "actually in or so closely related to" interstate commerce |
| Whether Silver Ridge qualifies for FLSA enterprise coverage as an "institution primarily engaged in care of the sick, the aged, the mentally ill" | Silver Ridge is a home for aged/mentally ill residents and therefore should be covered as an "institution" | Silver Ridge is a small group home not staffed by professionals and lacks comprehensive programs; Probert controls and excludes such small homes from "institution" status | No enterprise coverage: court followed Probert and held Silver Ridge is not an "institution" under the FLSA |
| Whether the court should retain jurisdiction over state-law counterclaims after dismissing federal claims | Llanes sought judgment on counterclaims in federal court | Defendants moved to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction | Court declined supplemental jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §1367(c)(3) and dismissed state-law counterclaims without prejudice |
Key Cases Cited
- McLeod v. Threlkeld, 319 U.S. 491 (1943) (activities that merely affect or indirectly relate to interstate commerce do not constitute "engaging in commerce")
- Mitchell v. C.W. Vollmer & Co., 349 U.S. 427 (1955) (work qualifies only if directly and vitally related to an instrumentality of interstate commerce)
- Thorne v. All Restoration Servs., Inc., 448 F.3d 1264 (11th Cir. 2006) (employee engages in commerce by working for or regularly using instrumentalities of interstate commerce)
- Josendis v. Wall to Wall Residence Repairs, Inc., 662 F.3d 1292 (11th Cir. 2011) (handling goods that previously moved interstate does not create individual coverage)
- Probert v. Family Centered Servs. of Alaska, Inc., 651 F.3d 1007 (9th Cir. 2011) (small group homes run by nonprofessionals are not "institutions" under FLSA enterprise coverage)
- Donovan v. Scoles, 652 F.2d 16 (9th Cir. 1981) (discussing the congressional expansion to enterprise coverage)
- D.A. Schulte, Inc. v. Gangi, 328 U.S. 108 (1946) (burden on employee to prove FLSA coverage)
- United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation, 564 U.S. 162 (2011) (statutory interpretation principle against rendering statutory provisions superfluous)