Warren Harold Oliver v. Mercy Medical Center, Inc., an Oregon Corporation

Mercy Medical Center, Inc. appeals the amount of the district court’s award of damages to Warren Oliver as compensation for overtime pursuant to section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-19 . The panel unanimously agreed that this case was suitable for submission without oral argument. 9th Cir.R. 3(a); Fed.R.App.P. 34(a). We affirm.

I

Mercy Medical Center employed Oliver first as a psychiatric technician and then as an ambulance attendant. He worked in the latter job from May 23,1978 to July 2,1978; Mercy Medical paid him $700 per month. Oliver’s duties required him to be in the ambulance or the station five days per week, eight hours per day. The remaining sixteen hours per day, Mercy Medical required Oliver to remain in telephone or radio contact with the station and to be able to respond to calls within three minutes.

Oliver filed an action in district court seeking backpay for overtime hours pursuant to the FLSA. 29 U.S.C. § 207 (a). After a bench trial, the district court found that all of Oliver’s on-call time was working time within the meaning of the act and that Oliver was entitled to overtime compensation for all hours he worked in excess of…