This week, the Court explores whether time booting up a computer is compensable under federal labor law and addresses district courts' discretion to adjust fees for serial American With Disabilities Act litigants.
CADENA v. CUSTOMER CONNEXX LLC
The Court holds that time spent booting up a computer is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act, where in-person call center employees used computer programs not only to clock in but also to place calls and perform other duties.
The panel: Judges Bybee, Callahan, and Collins, with Judge Bybee writing the opinion.
Key highlight: "Because Appellants cannot perform their principal duties'receiving customer calls and scheduling'without a functional computer, booting up their computers at the beginning of their shifts is integral and indispensable and therefore compensable under the FLSA."
Background: Connexx's call center provides customer service and scheduling for an appliance recycling business. At the start of a shift, employees turn on their computers, log in using a username and password, and open various programs, including the timekeeping system. At the end of their shift, employees finish their calls, close the programs, clock out, and log off or shut down their computers. Both the boot up and shut down process takes several minutes.
Plaintiffs, hourly workers at the call center, filed suit alleging that Connexx violated the FLSA and Nevada law by not paying employees for time spent booting up their computers before clocking in and shutting down their...
