Police Officers Were Properly Denied Compensation For Donning And Doffing Uniforms
Bamonte v. City of Mesa, 598 F.3d 1217 (9th Cir. 2010)
The plaintiffs in this case are employed as police officers for the City of Mesa, Arizona. They contended that the city violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) by failing to compensate them for the time spent donning and doffing their uniforms and accompanying gear. The district court dismissed the lawsuit on summary judgment, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed, holding that because “[n]o requirement of law, rule, the employer, or the nature of the work mandates donning and doffing at the employer’s premises” rather than at home, the time spent doing so was not compensable under the FLSA.
