Michael Ballaris v. Wacker Siltronic Corporation, a Foreign Corporation

Michael Ballaris, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, sued Wacker Siltronic Corporation to recover: (1) unpaid overtime wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.; (2) unpaid overtime wages under the Oregon wage and hour laws, Or.Rev. Stat. §§ 652.140 and 652.150; and (3) equitable remedies and unpaid benefits on account of the company’s failure to keep accurate records and to make contributions to employee benefit plans, as required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq. The district court granted Wacker summary judgment on all claims.

Plaintiffs assert three principal errors on appeal. They contend that the district court erred in concluding that: (1) paid-lunchtime compensation did not constitute remuneration regularly received for employment and is therefore excludable from the regular rate of pay used to calculate overtime compensation; (2) time spent by employees changing into and out of plant uniforms at the work-site was not “work-time” under the FLSA, and therefore is not compensable; and (3) the employer could lawfully credit the “paid lunch” time payments against overtime…