Ray Donovan, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor v. Larry Scoles, Individually, and Doing Business as College Exxon Service Station

This case concerns the extent of the coverage of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The issue is whether the coverage of the Act extends to a business enterprise whose only connection with interstate commerce is that some of its employees handle goods that have moved in interstate commerce, even though the goods have come to rest within the state prior to acquisition by the business enterprise.

The Secretary of Labor brought the action under Sections 16(c) and 17 of The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. (“FLSA”), against Larry Scoles, operator of the College Exxon Service Station. The complaint alleged violations of the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Act. It characterized College Exxon as an enterprise engaged in commerce, as defined by 29 U.S.C. § 203 (r) and (s). Scoles moved for summary judgment. Although conceding his business was an enterprise under § 203(r), he claimed the intrastate nature of his business deprived the district court of jurisdiction under the FLSA. The district court dismissed the complaint.

We find that College Exxon is a covered enterprise under the FLSA as amended in 1961 and 1974. We therefore reverse the…