Recent Development by M. D. Rubenstein
From April 1981 until January 1983, Frederick George Bright worked as a biomedical equipment repair technician for Houston Northwest Medical Center Survivor, Inc. (Northwest). Bright worked a standard forty-hour week and was paid an hourly wage. In addition, Northwest paid Bright at a rate equal to one-and-one half times his normal wage for any overtime that he actually worked, in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In February 1982, Bright became the senior biomedical equipment repair technician employed by Northwest. As the senior technician, Bright was required to wear a beeper and to be on call for emergency repairs during his off-duty hours. While on call, Bright was subject to three restrictions: (1) he could not be intoxicated to a point that would impair his ability to repair medical equipment; (2) the hospital had to be able to reach him by beeper at all times; and (3) he had to be able to arrive at the hospital within approximately twenty minutes of being called. Bright was not compensated for this on-call time. However, he was compensated for any actual work performed during off-duty hours. While on call, Bright was able to engage in most normal off-duty activities but was unable to travel freely because of the twenty-minute limitation. Furthermore, Bright was on call every day, from the time he became the senior biomedical repair technician until he left Northwest's employ in January 1983, a total of eleven months without respite. During those eleven months, Bright was called for emergency repairs, on average, two times during the week and two to three times on the weekends. Bright sued Northwest under the FLSA, seeking overtime compensation for his on-call time. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted Northwest's motion for summary judgment, holding that Bright's on-call time was not working time and thus not compensable under the FLSA. On appeal, a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed and remanded for trial on the merits. On rehearing en banc, however, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision, holding that the on-call time was not within the FLSA's mandate. Bright v. Houston Northwest Medical Center Survivor, Inc., 934 F.2d 671 (5th Cir. 1991).
About the Author
M. D. Rubenstein.
Citation
66 Tul. L. Rev. 1517 (1992)