Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. (09-834)

argument 09-834

Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp.

Supreme Court of the United States 55 min 5 speakers 8 chapters transcribed 4 days ago official recording ↗

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What is the legal definition of “filing a complaint” under the Fair Labor Standards Act?

John G. Roberts 0:02

We'll hear argument next in Case 09-834, Kasten v. St. Gobain Performance Plastics Corporation. Mr. Kaster. MR.

David Castor 0:11

Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court. When Kevin Kasten told his employer that the location of the time clocks was illegal and that if they were taken to court, they would lose, he filed any complaint within the meaning of Section 215 of the Fair Labor Standards Act because filing includes an oral communication because any means any, which includes formal, informal, written, or unwritten communications. And the words in the statute were designed to have a broad construction under Section 2 of the Statute 202 and under Mitchell v. DeMario and the Tennessee coal case. I'd like to begin with the Tennessee coal case. Tennessee coal versus Moscato. The Court interpreted work in a broad fashion to include the time in a mine when workers were moving from one place to another, not actually engaged in physical labor.

David Castor 1:06

In interpreting work that way, the Court said that the act is not to be interpreted in a narrow, grudging fashion.

Samuel A. Alito 1:13

What I'd like to focus on — Let me give you this example. Suppose a company has an established policy that if you want to make a complaint, there's a particular supervisor you should go to. And let's say they say, you can make this complaint in writing, you can make it orally. Now, something's going on in the workplace and a supervisor happens to be walking by. Maybe a machine is broken, an employee has been hurt, and an employee walks up to the supervisor who's walking briskly by, taps the supervisor on the shoulder and says, the company's violating the Fair Labor Standards Act because of the placement of the clock. You said that filing has no formality requirement. Would that be the filing of a complaint?

David Castor 1:58

I think it would, Your Honor. I don't think that the fact that the employer has a policy that says you do it on a Tuesday morning would control what the statute says one way or the other. So I think it would constitute a filing of

Elena Kagan 2:10

a complaint. So you mean that if the government says you've got to file a complaint with us by either calling us or submitting something in writing — And at a cocktail party, a worker goes up to a government employee in that agency and says, you know, my company is violating the law. That that's enough?

David Castor 2:33

I don't, you know, I don't believe that that's, in the context of a non-work environment, Your Honor, I would note that I don't know exactly the answer to the Court's question.

Elena Kagan 2:44

The reason I'm asking that question is related to Justice Alito's question. which is what does filing a complaint mean? Does it have to be relative to the procedures adopted by the person that you're reporting this to?

David Castor 3:01

MR. Filing means directing it to somebody who can do something about it. And it doesn't necessarily

Elena Kagan 3:06

have to be — JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR What's the — why, at a cocktail party, that employee might be there on personal time, but when he goes back to work the next morning, he could do something. Is that enough?

David Castor 3:14

Well, it may be. If it's directed towards the responsible party, then it would be filing a complaint. And so it could occur outside of work time.

Elena Kagan 3:24

So what you're doing is stopping the government from saying the only way that you can file a complaint with us is to do it in writing. We're now forcing the government to adopt an oral procedure even if it chose not to, even if it thought an oral procedure would create havoc, et cetera, et cetera.

David Castor 3:45

If the person is directing the complaint to the government and communicates that to the responsible party who can do something about it, I think that they are filing a complaint, Your Honor.

Samuel A. Alito 3:55

Well, it's one thing to say that filing doesn't necessarily mean that something is written, although that's usually what the word means, isn't it?

David Castor 4:05

It can often mean a written communication. Are you

Samuel A. Alito 4:07

filing your comments right now?

David Castor 4:09

I think I am, Your Honor. I'm directing them to the Court.

Samuel A. Alito 4:13

That's the ordinary usage of the word. But to say that it includes no degree of formality, that's your argument?