Susan Kendall Barry Bailey Keith Bailey Linda Barnes Joe Barnes Andy Bridges Eric Brown George Bryan Tammy Buchanan Gary Burke Kathleen Clark John Coleman Lake Critzer Robin Dennis Dominador Fermil John Fusco Paul Gorski Thomas Green Stan Glaser Joseph Hoefling Doug Markley Pam Martin Dennis McGee Mary Morton Larry Myers Michelle Osborn Robert Pugh Kimberly Rabeau Richard Ramsey Todd Renigar David Rose Anthony Stewart Charles Walker Nancy Walley Brenda Watt Gilbert Williams, and Others Similarly Situated v. City of Chesapeake, Virginia, Susan Kendall Barry Bailey Keith Bailey Linda Barnes Joe Barnes Andy Bridges Eric Brown George Bryan Tammy Buchanan Gary Burke Kathleen Clark John Coleman Lake Critzer Robin Dennis Dominador Fermil John Fusco Paul Gorski Thomas Green Stan Glaser Joseph Hoefling David Hildman William Johnson Terry King Kevin Laughlin David Long Doug Markley Pam Martin Dennis McGee Mary Morton Larry Myers Michelle Osborn Robert Pugh Kimberly Rabeau Richard Ramsey Todd Renigar David Rose Anthony Stewart Charles Walker Nancy Walley Brenda Watt Gilbert Williams, and Others Similarly Situated v. City of ChesapeakeSusan Kendall Barry Bailey Keith Bailey Linda Barnes Joe Barnes Andy Bridges Eric Brown George Bryan Tammy Buchanan Gary Burke Kathleen Clark John Coleman Lake Critzer Robin Dennis Dominador Fermil John Fusco Paul Gorski Thomas Green Stan Glaser Joseph Hoefling Doug Markley Pam Martin Dennis McGee Mary Morton Larry Myers Michelle Osborn Robert Pugh Kimberly Rabeau Richard Ramsey Todd Renigar David Rose Anthony Stewart Charles Walker Nancy Walley Brenda Watt Gilbert Williams, and Others Similarly Situated v. City of Chesapeake, Virginia, Susan Kendall Barry Bailey Keith Bailey Linda Barnes Joe Barnes Andy Bridges Eric Brown George Bryan Tammy Buchanan Gary Burke Kathleen Clark John Coleman Lake Critzer Robin Dennis Dominador Fermil John Fusco Paul Gorski Thomas Green Stan Glaser Joseph Hoefling David Hildman William Johnson Terry King Kevin Laughlin David Long Doug Markley Pam Martin Dennis McGee Mary Morton Larry Myers Michelle Osborn Robert Pugh Kimberly Rabeau Richard Ramsey Todd Renigar David Rose Anthony Stewart Charles Walker Nancy Walley Brenda Watt Gilbert Williams, and Others Similarly Situated v. City of Chesapeake
137 Lab.Cas. P 33,838, 5 Wage & Hour Cas.2d
(BNA) 330
Susan KENDALL; Barry Bailey; Keith Bailey; Linda Barnes;
Joe Barnes; Andy Bridges; Eric Brown; George Bryan;
Tammy Buchanan; Gary Burke; Kathleen Clark; John Coleman;
Lake Critzer; Robin Dennis; Dominador Fermil; John
Fusco; Paul Gorski; Thomas Green; Stan Glaser; Joseph
Hoefling; Doug Markley; Pam Martin; Dennis McGee; Mary
Morton; Larry Myers; Michelle Osborn; Robert Pugh;
Kimberly Rabeau; Richard Ramsey; Todd Renigar; David
Rose; Anthony Stewart; Charles Walker; Nancy Walley;
Brenda Watt; Gilbert Williams, and Others Similarly
Situated, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
CITY OF CHESAPEAKE, VIRGINIA, Defendant-Appellee.
Susan Kendall; Barry Bailey; Keith Bailey; Linda Barnes;
Joe Barnes; Andy Bridges; Eric Brown; George Bryan;
Tammy Buchanan; Gary Burke; Kathleen Clark; John Coleman;
Lake Critzer; Robin Dennis; Dominador Fermil; John
Fusco; Paul Gorski; Thomas Green; Stan Glaser; Joseph
Hoefling; David Hildman; William Johnson; Terry King;
Kevin Laughlin; David Long; Doug Markley; Pam Martin;
Dennis McGee; Mary Morton; Larry Myers; Michelle Osborn;
Robert Pugh; Kimberly Rabeau; Richard Ramsey; Todd
Renigar; David Rose; Anthony Stewart; Charles Walker;
Nancy Walley; Brenda Watt; Gilbert Williams, and Others
Similarly Situated, Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
City of Chesapeake, Defendant-Appellant.
Nos. 98-1301, 98-1361.
United States Court of Appeals,
Fourth Circuit.
Argued March 4, 1999.
Decided April 8, 1999.
ARGUED: Andrew Michael Sacks, Sacks & Sacks, Norfolk, Virginia, for Appellants. Thomas Jeffrey Salb, Breeden, McMillan & Green, P.L.C., Norfolk, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: David M. Peters, Breeden, McMillan & Green, P.L.C., Norfolk, Virginia, for Appellee.
Before WILKINS, MOTZ, and KING, Circuit Judges.
OPINION
DIANA GRIBBON MOTZ, Circuit Judge:
The question raised in this case, which appears to be one of first impression, is whether plaintiffs can use
I.
In 1995, the Department of Labor investigated the City of Chesapeake's alleged failure to pay overtime wages to its emergency medical services (EMS) employees in violation of the FLSA. On August 25, 1995, the City agreed to pay back wages to its EMS employees for the period from September 1, 1993 to August 31, 1995, and the employees, in turn, accepted the payment.
The FLSA expressly recognizes and encourages such settlements:
The Secretary is authorized to supervise the payment of the unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation owing to any employee or employees under ... this title, and the agreement of any employee to accept such payment shall upon payment in full constitute a waiver by such employee of any right he may have ... to such unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime wages and an additional equal amount as liquidated damages.
Your acceptance of back wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act means that you have given up any right you may have to bring suit for such back wages under Section 16(b) оf the Act. Section 16(b) provides that an employee may bring suit on his/her own behalf for unpaid minimum wages and/or overtime compensation and an equal amount as liquidated damages, plus attorney's fees and court costs. Generally, a 2-year statute of limitations applies to the recovery of back wages. Do not sign this report unless you have actually received payment of the back wages due.
Two years later, in August 1997, some of the EMS workers filed a two-count complaint against the City. Both counts allege that the City fraudulently induced the workers to accept the payments and sign the releases by concealing the full extent of its liability to them under the FLSA. In particular, the workers assert that the City conсealed its liability "not only for back overtime wrongfully withheld, but for liquidated damages ... routinely awarded under the FLSA as well as overtime for a variety of activities which the CITY had heretofore not even considered as compensable hours worked."
The first count of the complaint alleges that the City's fraudulent conduct violates
The City moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. In a well-reasoned opinion, the district court granted the motion to dismiss with respect to the
The EMS workers now appeal the district court's dismissal of their
II.
The parties in this case do not dispute that the FLSA's minimum wage and overtime provisions create enforceable federal rights. See
[p]laintiffs do not seek to duplicate their FLSA claims which were available under the FLSA, but merely bring them under
(Emphasis added.) The workers thus suggest that their claim is in some sense independent of the FLSA, while at the same time identifying no source for the right giving rise to their
The City argues that the workers' claim is in fact not based on the FLSA, but rather on a right "not to be defrauded." This right does not provide a proper basis for an action under
The only other possible federal law foundation for the workers'
We recognize that a court should not "lightly conclude that Congress intended to preclude reliance on
As the Supreme Court recently noted in Blessing, it has only found a remedial scheme sufficiently comprehensive to preclude
The only other case in which the Court held
In Wright v. City of Roаnoke, by contrast, the Court found that the provisions of the Housing Act and the Brooke Amendment did not preclude use of
Applying these principles and precedents, we cаn only conclude that the mechanisms established by the FLSA preclude a
Most importantly, as noted above, the FLSA itself provides individuals with a private right of action for the enforcement of their FLSA rights.
Rather, Congress has evinced a clear intent to preclude the use of
III.
In its cross-appeal, the City contends that the district court erred in refusing to grant its motion for summary judgment on the workers' state law claims. This argument fails for several reasons. First we note that the denial of a summary judgment motion is generally not appealable. See O'Connor v. United States,
The
IV.
We hold that the district court committed no error in dismissing the workers'
AFFIRMED.
Notes
Some federal courts have misleadingly referred to "the federal common law of release." See, e.g., Street v. J.C. Bradford & Co.,
At oral argument, counsel for the workers indicated his belief that his clients' substantive FLSA rights had been extinguished by the releases that they had signed. In rejecting the workers'
We recognize that Congress has legislatively over ruled much, but not all, of the Smith holding. See Sellers v. School Bd. of City of Manassas,
The language of the district court's opinion could be read to suggest, however, that a district court lacks the power to retain jurisdiction over state claims after all federal claims have been dismissed. Thаt plainly is not the case; as we have noted, "trial courts enjoy wide latitude in determining whether or not to retain jurisdiction over state claims when federal claims have been extinguished." Jordahl,