When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in 2020, a county fire academy quickly implemented procedures that required firefighter trainees to be housed in a hotel for six days a week as a condition of participating in the academy. Trainees had the option of deferring to a later training cycle if they did not want the hotel stay. The trainees were free to spend their time in the hotel as they saw fit before and after the trainings.
Trainees were paid for ten hours of work on each of the six training days. They received straight time for the first 40 hours, and overtime for the remaining 20 hours each week.
A firefighter trainee, who agreed to the hotel stay and underwent training in 2020, sued the county in federal district court, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The trainee argued that the time he spent at the hotel was work time even though he was free to do what he pleased. The trainee also argued that he should be entitled to overtime compensation and liquidated damages.
LCW attorneys prevailed in district court and the trainee appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Through briefing and oral argument, LCW convinced the panel that the time spent in the hotel was not compensable FLSA work time, and that the county did not require the trainees to work “off-the-clock” while staying at the hotel. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s finding in the county’s favor and dismissed the lawsuit.