Moss v. Hawaiian Dredging Co. Larsen v. Flood Bros.

The appellants, some 1200 walking bosses and warehousemen employed in the long-shore and stevedoring industry in the San Francisco Bay area, brought 32 actions against the appellees, their employers, to recover overtime compensation and liquidated damages claimed to be owing under § 16 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 201-219 . The cases were consolidated for trial.

The facts upon which the actions are predicated are that these workers were paid at an agreed hourly rate for a basic 30-hour workweek, consisting of the first six hours of work between 8 A.M. and 5 :00 P.M. Mondays through Fridays. The same employment contracts provided that they should be paid “time and a half” for all work done outside this basic workweek. This included all work done after 5:00 P. M. and before 8:00 A.M., work done on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, and work done after the first six hours of work between 8:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M., Mondays through Fridays. This contract overtime pay was sometimes called “clock overtime”, because applicable to certain hours during the day and week. In addition, special rates, even higher, were paid for handling dangerous or noxious cargo, or for…