Hickman v. United States of America

Filing 30

ORDER granting 21 Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings; Count III of Plaintiffs Complaint is DISMISSED (Written Opinion). Signed by Judge Ann D. Montgomery on 05/21/2015. (TLU)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA
Jermaine Hickman,
Plaintiff,
v.

ORDER
Civil No. 14-3041 ADM/JSM

United States of America,
Defendant.
______________________________________________________________________________
Richard Student, Esq. and Kevin Gregorius, Esq., Meshbesher & Associates, PA, Minneapolis,
MN, on behalf of Plaintiff.
Pamela Marentette, Esq., Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney’s Office,
Minneapolis, MN, on behalf of Defendant.
______________________________________________________________________________
On May 21, 2015, the undersigned United States District Judge heard oral argument on
Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings [Docket No. 21]. Defendant moves for
dismissal of Count III of Plaintiff’s Complaint, which seeks unpaid wages under the Fair Labor
Standards Act (“FLSA”) for work Plaintiff performed as an inmate during a period of alleged
over-service of a federal sentence. For the reasons stated at the hearing, the Court concludes that
Plaintiff was not an “employee” within the meaning of the FLSA during his period of overservice. See McMaster v. State of Minn., 30 F.3d 976, 980 (8th Cir. 1994) (holding that inmates
“who are required to work as part of their sentences and perform labor within a correctional
facility as part of a state-run prison industries program are not ‘employees’ of the state or prison
within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act”). Since a waiver of sovereign immunity has
not occurred, Plaintiff cannot sustain a claim for unpaid wages under the FLSA.
Based upon the foregoing, all the files, records, and proceedings herein, and for the
reasons stated on the record at the conclusion of oral argument, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that

Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings [Docket No. 21] is GRANTED and Count III
of Plaintiff’s Complaint is DISMISSED.
BY THE COURT:

s/Ann D. Montgomery
ANN D. MONTGOMERY
U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated: May 21, 2015.

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