157 F.2d 255 | 1st Cir. | 1946
Appellee railroad paid its employees wages which were less than they were entitled to under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, §§ 6, 7, 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 206, 207. Appellee afterwards paid them somewhat less than half of the balance due and, on the theory that appellee could pay no-more, the employees executed releases in full. A large number of employees, the present appellants, afterwards brought this suit to recover the amounts which still remained unpaid. The court found that ap-pellee had paid all it could pay “and thereafter continue operations or avoid insolvency”. The court concluded that the release agreements were valid and that the appellants were not entitled to recover.
Fort Smith & Western Railroad Co. v. Mills, 253 U.S. 206, 40 S.Ct. 526, 64 L. Ed. 862, on which appellee relies, is not in point. In that case, which arose under the Adamson Law, 39 Stat. 721, 45 U.S. C.A. §§ 65, 66, the question was no. whether employees could require their employer to comply with the law but whether the District Attorney could requ' ,-e the receiver of a railroad to comply with the law when the receiver and the employees were agreed in wishing to disregard it.
The judgment of the District Court is reversed and the case is remanded to that court for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.