Pforr v. Food Lion, Inc.

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In Brief

In order to be found liable under the FLSA, employers must be aware that their employees performed off-the-clock work and that a few scattered examples of off-the-clock work would be insufficient to establish liability for unpaid overtime.

What Happened in Court

Two clerks sued their employer, Food Lion, for unpaid overtime wages for work performed off-the-clock.  After prevailing at District Court, the employees lost on appeal because they could not show that Food Lion “permitted” or “suffered” them to work off-the-clock hours.  Specifically, once Food Lion learned that the employees were working off-the-clock, it instructed them to stop.  As such, the employees could not show a “pattern or practice that [Food Lion] suffered or allowed the off-the-clock work claimed.”