Cleveland v. City of Los Angeles

This case involves the application of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (“FLSA”) overtime exemption for an “employee engaged in fire protection activities.” 29 U.S.C. § 207 (k). Unless an exemption applies, the FLSA requires that employees be compensated at a rate of one-and-one-half times their regular hourly rate for all hours worked in excess of forty in one week. We must determine whether the fire protection exemption should be applied to dual function paramedics, individuals trained in both fire suppression and advanced life saving. This issue is of first impression in the Ninth Circuit.

We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the district court, finding that no exemption applies.

I. Factual Background

Plaintiffs are 119 employees of Defendant City of Los Angeles (the “City”). They are employed as “dual function” or “cross-trained” firefighters/paramedics (“dual function paramedics”). This means that Plaintiffs are fully trained and certified in both fire suppression skills and advanced life support paramedics. The City also employs “single function” paramedics who are not trained in fire suppression.

Plaintiffs work a…