Gary O'dell, Cross-Appellant v. Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, Cross-Appellee

I.

Alyeska appeals the district court’s award of overtime wages and liquidated damages to Gary O’Dell under the Pair Labor Standards Act [FLSA], 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 , et seq. It also appeals the district court’s dismissal of its counterclaim for unjust enrichment. O’Dell cross-appeals, seeking reinstatement of his state law claim for a wage penalty and additional overtime wages under the Alaska Wage and Hour Act [AWHA], AS 23.10.050 et seq. We reverse.

II.

The facts necessary to a proper determination of the legal question whether an exemption to the FLSA applies in a particular case are reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard. Icicle Seafoods, Inc. v. Washington, 475 U.S. 709, 713 , 106 S.Ct. 1527, 1529 , 89 L.Ed.2d 739 (1986). The question whether O’Dell’s activities as a field inspector excluded him from the overtime benefits of the FLSA is a question of law governed by the regulations promulgated by the Wage and Hour Administrator, and is reviewed de novo. Id. at 714, 106 S.Ct. at 1530 ; United States v. McConney, 728 F.2d 1195, 1200 (9th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 824 , 105 S.Ct. 101 , 83 L.Ed.2d 46 (1984).

III.

Gary O’Dell was a Field Inspector working…