Ronald Ridings and Darvin D. Salyers v. Lane County, Oregon

The plaintiffs were employed as civil investigators in the office of the Lane County District Attorney prior to February 22, 1985. Their employment was terminated on that date. In this lawsuit against the County, they claim that they are entitled to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 207 (1982) (“FLSA”), for overtime hours allegedly worked between January of 1983 and the time that they were terminated. They also claim that their terminations constituted unlawful retaliation for their assertion of their overtime claims, and that they were thus entitled to damages pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 215 (a)(3). A magistrate heard the case by consent of the parties and granted summary judgment for the defendants.

Plaintiffs appeal to this court, claiming that the magistrate erred as a matter of law in holding that the functions they performed as investigators were “traditional government functions,” and that they were therefore not covered under the FLSA as it was interpreted during their employment. See National League of Cities v. Usery, 426 U.S. 833 (1976). They also contend that the magistrate erred in granting summary judgment on their retaliation claim because…