FUENTES, Circuit Judge:
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires most employers to pay overtime wages to hourly employees. While professional motor carriers are generally exempt from this requirement, a recent Act of Congress waives the exemption for motor carrier employees who, in whole or in part, drive vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds. Because the plaintiff, Ashley McMaster, falls within this carveout, we will affirm the District Court's determination that she was entitled to overtime.
Ashley McMaster worked for Eastern Armored Services, Inc. ("Eastern") from approximately March 2010 until June 2011. As its name suggests, Eastern is an armored courier company, and its fleet of armored vehicles operates across several states in the mid-Atlantic region. McMaster was a driver and/or guard for Eastern, which meant that some days she was assigned to drive an armored vehicle, while other days she rode as a passenger to ensure safety and security. McMaster was not assigned to one specific vehicle. Rather, her vehicle assignment changed according to the particular needs of a given day's transport. As it happened, McMaster spent 51% of her total days working on vehicles rated heavier than 10,000 pounds, and 49% of her total days working on vehicles rated lighter than 10,000 pounds. She was paid by the hour, and she frequently worked more than 40 hours in a given week. For all hours worked, she was paid at her regular rate. In other words, she was not paid overtime.
After McMaster left Eastern, she filed the instant federal action claiming that the Fair Labor Standards Act required Eastern to pay her overtime wages when she worked more than 40 hours in a week. The parties certified a conditional class of similarly situated employees, see 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), and proceeded to limited discovery on McMaster's claim only. The parties then cross-moved for summary judgment.
The District Court granted McMaster's motion, denied Eastern's motion, and entered an order that McMaster was eligible to be paid overtime wages for all hours she worked over 40 in a given workweek. This interlocutory appeal followed on certification of the District Court, see 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), which recognized that other district courts have embraced Eastern's arguments. In the briefs before us, Eastern renews its contention that McMaster is ineligible for overtime because of the Motor Carrier Act Exemption.
Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act provides that employers must pay hourly employees 150% their typical wages on hours they work in a week over 40.
Congress elaborated upon the Motor Carrier Act Exemption with the enactment of the Corrections Act of 2008.
McMaster's job placed her squarely within the Corrections Act's definition of a "covered employee." McMaster was a driver and guard of commercial armored
It is well-established that, "[w]here the text of a statute is unambiguous, the statute should be enforced as written and only the most extraordinary showing of contrary intentions in the legislative history will justify a departure from that language." Murphy v. Millennium Radio Grp. LLC, 650 F.3d 295, 302 (3d Cir.2011). As stated above, the relevant language of the Corrections Act is that, as of June 6, 2008, "Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ... shall apply to a covered employee notwithstanding section 13(b)(1) of that Act." Corrections Act § 306(a). This is a plain statement that a "covered employee" is to receive overtime even where section 13(b)(1) — the Motor Carrier Act Exemption — would ordinarily create an exemption. We see no plausible alternative construction, and neither Eastern nor any of the authorities it cites attempt to offer one. Nor does Eastern point to legislative history probative of a drafting error. Cf. Murphy, 650 F.3d at 302. Statutory construction points to one conclusion: "covered employees" are entitled to overtime.
District courts considering the plain language of the Corrections Act have reached the same conclusion. See, e.g., McMaster v. E. Armored Servs., Inc., 2013 WL 1288613, at *1 (D.N.J.2013); Garcia v. W. Waste Servs., Inc., 969 F.Supp.2d 1252, 1260 (D.Idaho 2013); Bedoya v. Aventura Limousine & Transp. Serv., Inc., 2012 WL 3962935, at *4 (S.D.Fla.2012); Mayan v. Rydbom Exp., Inc., 2009 WL 3152136, at *9 (E.D.Pa.2009); Botero v. Commonwealth Limousine Serv. Inc., 2013 WL 3929785, at *13 (D.Mass.2013); O'Brien v. Lifestyle Transp., Inc., 956 F.Supp.2d 300, 307 (D.Mass.2013). So, too, the Department of Labor, in a post-Corrections Act Field Bulletin entitled "Change in Application of the FLSA § 13(b)(1) `Motor Carrier Exemption.'" See Department of Labor Field Bulletin, available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/fieldbulletins/fab2010_2.htm. ("Section 306(a) extends FLSA Section 7 overtime requirements to employees covered by [Corrections Act] Section 306(c), notwithstanding FLSA Section 13(b)(1).").
Our sister courts of appeals have yet to weigh in squarely on whether a Corrections Act "covered employee" is entitled to overtime, but the Fifth and Eighth Circuits have noted the plain language of the Corrections Act, too.
In Allen v. Coil Tubing Servs., L.L.C., the Fifth Circuit addressed a motor carrier employee's argument in an interlocutory appeal that her lack of interstate driving placed her outside the ambit of the Motor Carrier Act Exemption. See 755 F.3d 279 (5th Cir.2014). The Corrections Act was not at issue because the relevant claims arose prior to June 2008. Id. at 291 n. 6. In a footnote, however, the court commented on the plaintiff's other claims before the District Court, which arose after the enactment of the Corrections Act.
The Eighth Circuit case, McCall v. Disabled American Veterans, involved a motor carrier employee who, like McMaster does here, argued he was eligible for overtime because he was a Corrections Act "covered employee." See 723 F.3d 962 (8th Cir.2013). The issue on appeal centered on whether the weight of the vehicles the plaintiff drove should, for purposes of determining whether he was a "covered employee," be measured according to their actual weight or according to their Gross Vehicle Weight Rating. See id. Finding the plaintiff was not a "covered employee" because he exclusively worked on vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating over 10,000 pounds, the Eighth Circuit explained that "Gross Vehicle Weight Rating establishes an objective and predictable standard for determining whether the [Motor Carrier Act] Exemption applies." Id. at 966.
Rather than contest Congress's express carveout from the Motor Carrier Act Exemption for "covered employees," Eastern relies on a series of district court cases holding that the Motor Carrier Act Exemption remains absolute after the Corrections Act. See Avery v. Chariots For Hire, 748 F.Supp.2d 492, 500 (D.Md.2010); Dalton v. Sabo, Inc., 2010 WL 1325613, at *4 (D.Or.2010); Jaramillo v. Garda, Inc., 2012 WL 4955932, at *4 (N.D.Ill.2012).
The Corrections Act says it plainly: "Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ... appl[ies] to a covered employee notwithstanding section 13(b)(1) of that Act." Corrections Act § 306(a). As McMaster meets the criteria of a "covered employee," she is entitled to overtime. We will therefore affirm the order of the District Court and remand for assessment of wages owed to McMaster and for additional proceedings relating to the other members of the conditional class.