Martino v. Michigan Window Cleaning Co.

Background

A Michigan company that cleaned windows, painted, and did maintenance work for other businesses is the employer here. A former employee sued for himself and other similarly situated workers, claiming unpaid overtime because they were regularly required to work more hours than the federal law allowed but were paid overtime only for hours over 44 per week. Most work occurred at customers’ industrial plants that produced goods moving in interstate commerce. The company defended by saying it was a retail or service establishment and pointed to written union agreements that set overtime thresholds higher than the statute. The district court dismissed the suit, the court of appeals affirmed, and the Supreme Court took the case because different appeals courts had reached different conclusions.

Reasoning

The key question was whether cleaning and related services at production plants are part of producing goods for commerce, and thus covered by the federal overtime law. The Court found these services necessary to production, so the workers fall within the law’s coverage. The Court explained that if those same services had been performed by employees of the production plants, they would plainly be covered, and independent contracts with the employer do not change that. The Court also held the employer was not a retail or service establishment for ultimate consumers because its work occurred inside the flow of goods in commerce. Finally, the Court said the written union agreements cannot override the statute’s overtime requirements.

Real world impact

The decision allows these workers to pursue unpaid overtime and prevents employers from avoiding overtime coverage by labeling similar operations as retail or service establishments. Employers providing cleaning and maintenance to production plants must follow the federal overtime rules. The case is returned to the lower court for further proceedings consistent with this ruling.