The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in White v. Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation,* upholding summary judgment and dismissal of an emergency room nurse's Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claim because she failed to follow procedures for reporting time spent working during automatically deducted unpaid meal breaks. Some commentators have seen this decision as partially recognizing a Faragher/Ellerth type affirmative defense in FLSA actions when employers have reasonable procedures for reporting time worked. That view may be a bit oversimplified, but the underlying decision does highlight how an employer may avoid potential FLSA liability by taking proactive steps to ensure that employees are appropriately paid for all time worked.

In November 2012, the Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the employer, finding that the hospital did not know and did not have reason to know the plaintiff was not paid for missed meal breaks because she failed to use an exception log to record the extra time worked. The evidence that led to this decision included: (1) a handbook provision stating employees would be compensated if they missed a meal break or it was interrupted because of a work-related reason; (2) instructions to employees to record all time worked during meal breaks in an exception log; (3) employee training about the meal break policy and exception log; and (4) a signed acknowledgement by the plaintiff stating she understood the meal break policy. Based on this record, the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s claim. Continue reading this entry at Littler's Wage & Hour Counsel.