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Wage Payment Litigation
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MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT Reporter of Decisions
Decision: 2000 ME 162
Docket: Cum-99-747
Argued: June 5, 2000
Decided: August 29, 2000
Panel: CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, SAUFLEY, ALEXANDER, and CALKINS, JJ.
Majority: CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, SAUFLEY, and ALEXANDER, JJ.
Dissent: CALKINS, J.
IN RE WAGE PAYMENT LITIGATION{1}
CLIFFORD, J.
[¶1] Five classes of employees appeal judgments of dismissal of their
complaints against their employers asserting that their employers' practice
of paying them on a bi-weekly basis created causes of action pursuant to
26 M.R.S.A. § 621 (1988 & Supp. 1998) (concerning the timely payment of
wages), repealed by P.L. 1999, ch. 465, § 1 (effective September 18, 1999),
and 26 M.R.S.A. § 626-A (1988 & Supp. 1998) (concerning penalties and
rights of action for violations by employers), amended by P.L. 1999, ch. 465,
§ 1 (effective Sept. 18, 1999); 26 M.R.S.A. § 664 (1988 & Supp. 1999)
(proscribing minimum wage requirements); the Federal Fair Labor
Standards Act, 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 201-219 (1998); and in common law unjust
enrichment. Determining that the Superior Court (Cumberland and
Kennebec Counties, Crowley, J.) properly dismissed their complaints, we
affirm the judgments.
I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY
[¶2] The plaintiffs in this case are hourly workers in the service
industry who were paid by their employers on a bi-weekly basis. The
defendants are service industry corporations. The five lawsuits that
constitute this consolidated appeal were filed in 1998. These suits all
alleged the same claims against different employers. The Superior Court
(Mills, J.) conducted a conference of all counsel in October 1998 to
encourage the parties to resolve the cases on some consolidated basis. The
cases were in various procedural stages. Discovery had been commenced in
some, motions for summary judgment had been filed in others, and motions
to certify a class had been filed in still others. Following the conference, the
parties produced a joint stipulation regarding the resolution of common
legal issues, and the defendants filed a consolidated motion to dismiss.
Although the motion was filed by the defendants after some discovery had
occurred, the parties and the court agreed to treat the cases under the
procedure used for motions to dismiss. No discovery, affidavits, or
stipulations of fact were relied upon. The motion court (Crowley, J.) granted
the employers' motions to dismiss in all respects. The employees then filed
this appeal.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW AND RULES OF CONSTRUCTION
[¶3] Dismissal of a complaint is proper only when the complaint fails
to state a claim for which relief may be granted. See M.R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).
"A motion to dismiss tests the legal sufficiency of the complaint." Livonia v.
Town of Rome, 1998 ME 39, ¶ 5, 707 A.2d 83, 85 (citing Richards v. Soucy,
610 A.2d 268, 270 (Me. 1992)). For the purposes of a motion made
pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), "the material allegations of the complaint must be
taken as admitted." Livonia, 1998 ME 39, ¶ 5, 707 A.2d at 85 (citing
Larrabee v. Penobscot Frozen Foods, Inc., 486 A.2d 97, 98 (Me. 1984)).
When reviewing a dismissal, we examine the complaint in the light most
favorable to the plaintiff to determine whether it sets forth elements of a
cause of action or alleges facts that would entitle the plaintiff to relief
pursuant to some legal theory. See Livonia, 1998 ME 39, ¶ 5, 707 A.2d at
85. "A dismissal should only occur when it appears 'beyond doubt that [the]
plaintiff[s] [are] entitled to no relief under any set of facts that [they] might
prove in support of [their] claim.'" McAfee v. Cole, 637 A.2d 463, 465
(Me. 1994) (quoting Hall v. Board of Envtl. Protection, 498 A.2d 260, 266
(Me. 1985)).
[¶4] We review the interpretation of a statute de novo for errors of
law. See Daniels v. Tew Mac Aero Servs., Inc., 675 A.2d 984, 987
(Me. 1996). When construing a statute, we seek to give effect to the
legislative intent by examining the plain meaning of the statutory language.
See Estate of Whittier, 681 A.2d 1, 2 (Me. 1996). If the plain meaning of
the text does not resolve an interpretative issue raised, we then consider
the statute's history, underlying policy, and other extrinsic factors to
ascertain legislative intent. See Arsenault v. Crossman, 1997 ME 92, ¶ 7,
696 A.2d 418, 421. In ascertaining legislative intent, we interpret the
section of the statute in the context of the statutory scheme in which it is
found. See City of Rockland v. Doud, 1998 ME 238, ¶ 5, 721 A.2d 981, 982.
Moreover, although an agency's interpretation of a statute it is charged with
administering is not binding on this Court, we will accord that
interpretation substantial deference "unless the statute plainly compels a
contrary result." Maine Bankers Ass'n v. Bureau of Banking, 684 A.2d 1304,
1306 (Me. 1996); see also Davric Me. Corp. v. Maine Harness Racing
Comm'n, 1999 ME 99, ¶ 7, 732 A.2d 289, 293.
III. TIMELY WAGE PAYMENT STATUTE
[¶5] The employees allege that their employers' practice of paying
them on a bi-weekly basis is a violation of 26 M.R.S.A. §§ 621, 626-A.{2}
Because of these violations, they contend that they are entitled to enforce a
civil forfeiture of $100 to $500 per violation and, in addition, to recover
treble damages, costs, and attorney fees.
A. Private Rights of Action for Civil Forfeitures
[¶6] The plaintiffs contend that the motion court erred in holding
that 26 M.R.S.A. § 626-A does not allow for a private right of action for
employees to collect forfeitures against their employers. Section 626-A
provides for a forfeiture of $100 to $500 for each violation to be enforced
against a party when that party is in violation of sections 621, 622, 623,
626, 628, or 629. See 26 M.R.S.A. § 626-A. The statute, however, does not
state to whom that forfeiture is payable.
[¶7] Because section 626-A does not state that a private right of
action exists, such a right of action can only be implied. In Larrabee v.
Frozen Foods, Inc., 486 A.2d 97 (Me. 1984), we dealt with a similar issue of
whether 26 M.R.S.A. § 630{3} contains a private right of action to assert a civil
forfeiture. See Larrabee, 486 A.2d at 101. We noted that when the
Legislature deems it "essential that a private party have a right of action, it
has expressly created one." Id. For the purpose of the creation of a private
right of action, the Legislature expresses its intent in the statutory language
or in the legislative history.
[¶8] In the present case, it is clear that sections 621 and 626-A
were enacted for the benefit of wage earners and that these plaintiffs are
wage earners. We examine whether there is any indication of legislative
intent to create or deny a private remedy of forfeiture, and whether
implying the existence of such a remedy is consistent with the underlying
purpose of the legislative scheme.
[¶9] In Larrabee, we concluded that section 630 created no private
right of action to enforce a forfeiture. See Larrabee, 486 A.2d at 101.
Section 626-A has language similar to that of section 630 and is part of the
same legislative scheme. See 26 M.R.S.A. §§ 621-634 (1988 & Supp. 1998).
These provisions should be interpreted harmoniously. See Estate of
Whittier, 681 A.2d at 2.
[¶10] Moreover, title 17-A, section 4-B states that "civil
violations . . . are enforceable by the Attorney General, his representative or
any other appropriate public official in a civil action to recover what may be
designated a fine, penalty or other sanction, or to secure the forfeiture that
may be decreed by the law." 17-A M.R.S.A. § 4-B (Supp. 1999). The civil
forfeiture referenced in section 626-A is the type of "civil violation" that is
solely enforceable by the Attorney General unless otherwise specified. Cf.
Larrabee, 486 A.2d at 101. We discern no intention on the part of the
Legislature, from either the plain language of the statute or the legislative
history, that would provide for a private right of action under section 626-A
to enforce the civil forfeiture. Moreover, our interpretation is in harmony
with that of the Department of Labor, which has maintained that the pursuit
of these penalties is its exclusive province. See Maine Bankers Ass'n v.
Bureau of Banking, 684 A.2d at 1036 (holding that deference should be
given to an agency's interpretation of a statute it is charged with enforcing).
The Department may elect to pursue such remedies, but the decision to do
so is a discretionary one. See New England Outdoor Ctr. v. Commissioner of
Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, 2000 ME 66, ¶ 12, 748 A.2d 1009, 1014.
B. Wages Paid Late vs. Unpaid Wages Pursuant to Section 626-A
[¶11] The employees also contend that the motion court erred in
dismissing their claims for unpaid wages, liquidated damages, and attorney
fees under section 626-A by concluding that "late" wages were not "unpaid"
wages. Section 626-A in effect at the time these cases were initiated stated:
Any employer is liable to the employee or employees for the
amount of unpaid wages and health benefits. Upon a
judgment being rendered in favor of any employee or
employees, in any action brought to recover unpaid wages or
health benefits under this subchapter, such judgment
includes, in addition to the unpaid wages or health benefits
adjudged to be due, a reasonable rate of interest, costs of suit
including a reasonable attorney's fee, and an additional
amount equal to twice the amount of unpaid wages as
liquidated damages.
26 M.R.S.A. § 626-A. Section 621 required that wages were to be paid by
the employers on a weekly basis. See 26 M.R.S.A. § 621.{4} Therefore, the
employees contend, as soon as a week passes without payment, such wages
are "unpaid" under the statute, and a cause of action thus accrues for those
wages, costs, attorney fees, and liquidated damages. Cf. Alie v. Nadeau, 93
Me. 282, 285, 44 A. 891, 891-92 (1899) (holding that a cause of action for
unpaid wages accrues on each instance that the wages are not paid).
[¶12] The right of the employee created by section 626-A is to sue
to collect "unpaid wages under this subchapter." 26 M.R.S.A. § 626-A. The
term "unpaid wages," however, is not explicitly defined in section 626-A,
nor is it defined in section 621. It is appropriate, then, to look to the
legislative scheme of which it is a part to ascertain the meaning of "unpaid
wages." See City of Rockland, 1998 ME 238, ¶ 5, 721 A.2d at 982. We have
previously stated that "unpaid wages" under section 626-A "[are] precisely
what [are] owing when an employer does not pay an employee for work."
Cooper v. Springfield Terminal Ry. Co., 635 A.2d 952, 955 (Me. 1993). It is
not disputed that, in the case of these employees, their wages were
ultimately paid.
[¶13] Pursuant to section 626, the right to collect or enforce an
action for an "unpaid" wage accrues when an employer fails to pay an
employee after termination of employment and upon that employee's
demand for payment. See 26 M.R.S.A. § 626 (1988 & Supp. 1999). Under
section 626, "[a]n employee leaving employment must be paid in full within
a reasonable time after demand at the office of the employer where payrolls
are kept and wages are paid." Id. The statute states further that "[f]or the
purposes of this subchapter, a reasonable time means the earlier of either
the next day on which employees would regularly be paid or a day not more
than 2 weeks after the day on which the demand is made." Id.
[¶14] When the employee remains employed but asserts that some
or all of his or her earned wages are "unpaid," the right to sue to collect
unpaid wages accrues if an employee is not paid on the employee's regularly
scheduled payday, and the difference is not made up by the next regularly
scheduled payday. See 26 M.R.S.A. § 621(2).
[¶15] Thus, the statute reveals a legislative intent to allow a private
litigant recourse against an employer for an unpaid wage only if: (1) the
employee has been discharged, subsequently demands to be paid, and the
employer refuses to do so, see 26 M.R.S.A. § 626; or (2) when that employer
has failed to pay a current employee in full, if the employer fails to pay the
amount withheld by that employee's next regularly scheduled payday, see
26 M.R.S.A. §§ 621, 626-A.{5}
[¶16] The employees note that section 621 explicitly states that
"[t]his subsection shall not be construed to permit nonpayment or
withholding of wages when due." 26 M.R.S.A. § 621(2). They argue that
this language precludes a construction of the statute that allows employers
to catch up on their payment of wages by the next pay period. We disagree.
First, that sentence-if read the way that the employees contend-would
obviate the language in section 621 requiring that employers make up late
wages by the next payday. Second, if an employer pays all wages in full by
the next pay period, although that employer is not subject to an employee's
private right of action under section 626-A, nevertheless the employer is
subject to a civil forfeiture brought by the Attorney General pursuant to the
same section. Accordingly, a wage paid in full, but paid late, is not "unpaid"
under section 621. The remedy for the enforcement of a "late" wage is the
not insignificant civil forfeiture penalties that can be brought by the Attorney
General.{6} Only if a wage remains "unpaid" beyond the time frames set out in
sections 621(2) or 626 may an employee recover in a private right of action.
IV. MINIMUM WAGE CLAIM
[¶17] The employees next claim that their employers' practice of
bi-weekly payment also constituted a violation of 26 M.R.S.A. §§ 661-672,
which establishes minimum wage requirements for work performed in
Maine. The employees do not contend, however, that the employers have
violated the minimum wage statute as to the amount of the hourly wage paid;
rather, they argue that this claim should not have been dismissed because a
"minimum wage" must be paid promptly when due, and that they could
prove facts to show a violation of this requirement.
[¶18] The minimum wage statute, however, contains no
time-of-payment language. The protection granted by the statute is of a
different kind than the protections provided for in section 621. The statute
is meant to protect employees from being paid too little. Sections 621 and
626-A protect employees from not being paid in a timely manner.
Enforcement of the time of payment of employees is limited to the scheme
expressly provided by the Legislature in sections 621 and 626-A. The
employees' claims under the Act were properly dismissed.
V. UNJUST ENRICHMENT
[¶19] The plaintiffs contend that the court erred in dismissing their
claim for unjust enrichment. We disagree. "'Unjust enrichment describes
recovery for the value of the benefit retained when there is no contractual
relationship, but when, on the grounds of fairness and justice, the law
compels performance of a legal and moral duty to pay.'" Lynch v. Ouellette,
670 A.2d 948, 950 (Me. 1996) (emphasis added) (quoting A.F.A.B., Inc. v.
Town of Old Orchard Beach, 639 A.2d 103, 105 n.3 (Me. 1994)).
[¶20] In these cases, a contractual relationship between the
employers and the employees exists, creating an employment relationship.
Cf. Burnell v. Town of Kingfield, 686 A.2d 1072, 1074 (Me. 1996)
(discussing indefinite employment contracts). This contract of employment
between the parties precludes the plaintiffs from maintaining a cause of
action for unjust enrichment.
VI. FEDERAL FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT
[¶21] Basinger v. Wal-Mart, one of the five cases consolidated for
this appeal, was removed to the United States District Court for the District
of Maine. The United States District Court (Hornby, C.J.) adopted the
recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge (Cohen) that Wal-
Mart was entitled to a summary judgment on the employees' Fair Labor
Standards Act claims filed pursuant to 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 201-219. See Basinger
v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., No. 98-334-P-H (D. Me. Mar. 9, 1999). The United
States District Court subsequently declined to exercise supplemental
jurisdiction and remanded the case to the Superior Court. See 28 U.S.C.A.
§ 1367(a) (1993) (providing for supplemental jurisdiction). This decision is
the law of the case as to the Basinger plaintiffs. See Blance v. Alley, 404 A.2d
587, 589 (Me. 1979).
[¶22] The magistrate judge reasoned in his recommendation that
"'[t]here is nothing in the [FLSA] that says a pay period has to be one week
or that employees must be paid weekly.'" Basinger, No. 98-334-P-H, slip op.
at 7 (quoting Marshall v. Allen-Russell Ford, Inc., 488 F. Supp. 615, 618
(E.D. Tenn 1980)). Moreover, the court held that violations of section 621
are insufficient to trigger a violation of the FLSA. See Basinger,
No. 98-334-P-H, slip op. at 10. The court concluded that the FLSA claims
are governed by the First Circuit's decision in Serapion v. Martinez, 119
F.3d 982 (1st Cir. 1997), in which that court stated that "'courts ought to
presume that the interpretation of a federal statute is not dependant on
state law.'" Basinger, No. 98-334-P-H, slip op. at 8 (quoting Serapion, 119
F.3d at 988). The District Court held that the plaintiff's attempt to peg
enforcement of the FLSA to the State Prompt Wage Payment Act would
undermine the congressional policy of uniformity of enforcement in all
states. See Basinger, No. 98-334-P-H, slip op. at 8.
[¶23] Thus, adopting the magistrate's recommendation in full, the
United States District Court found no violation of the FLSA in Basinger. That
court's decision is persuasive and we find no error in the Superior Court's
decision to adopt its rationale as to all of the other class plaintiffs in the
present case.
The entry is:
Judgments affirmed.
CALKINS, J., dissenting.
[¶24] I concur in Part III-A of the opinion holding that 26 M.R.S.A.
§ 626-A does not provide employees a private right of action against their
employers to collect forfeitures.{7} I believe that Larrabee v. Penobscot Frozen
Foods, Inc., 486 A.2d 97 (Me. 1984) compels that holding. I also concur in
Parts IV, V, and VI concerning the employees' minimum wage, unjust
enrichment, and Federal Fair Labor Standards Act claims. I respectfully
dissent in Part III-B because I conclude that 26 M.R.S.A. §§ 621 and 626-A
granted employees, who were entitled to be paid weekly and were not paid
weekly, the right to bring an action to collect their unpaid wages.
[¶25] I start with the requirement in section 621 that the
employers in this case were to have paid their employees weekly. No one in
this litigation disputes that basic premise. The disagreement is whether the
employees can enforce their statutory right by bringing an action to collect
those wages not paid weekly.
[¶26] In interpreting the statutes, I note the fact that sections 621
and 626-A were remedial wage statutes, obviously intended to remedy
problems faced by low-wage workers living from paycheck to paycheck. We
have said that such statutes must be construed liberally. See Director of
Bureau of Labor Standards v. Cormier, 527 A.2d 1297, 1300 (Me. 1987).
[¶27] Section 626-A allows an employee to bring an action for
unpaid wages. The statute, as it was worded at the time these actions were
filed, implicitly referred to violations of section 621, as well as other
statutory provisions, as a basis for an action for unpaid wages, by referring to
those sections in the first paragraph. The opinion concludes that the wages
of these employees were not "unpaid," that they were merely "late," in
spite of the fact that the statutory scheme makes no distinction between
"late" wages and "unpaid" wages. In fact, there is no mention in the
statutes of "late" wages.
[¶28] The opinion decides that wages are "unpaid" in two situations:
(1) when an employer fails to pay an employee after employment is
terminated and the employee has made a demand for the wages, and (2)
when an employer fails to pay the employee on the payday following the
payday when the wages were due. We are not concerned with the former
situation because we are not dealing with terminated employees.
[¶29] The opinion determines, with regard to current employees,
that wages are "unpaid" only when not paid on the payday after the payday
on which they are due. The only portion of the statutory scheme that
allowed payment on the next payday was section 621(2). That section stated
that an employer "shall pay to its employee, on or before the employee's
next regularly scheduled payday, the balance of the employee's earned
hourly wages due to be paid which were not paid on the date normally
scheduled for payment of those wages." The section assumed a regularly
scheduled payday at which time employees were generally paid what was
due them. Common sense dictates that if an employer was required to pay
its employees weekly, the employer must have established a weekly payday.
In section 621(2) the Legislature was not authorizing employers, required to
pay weekly, to establish a regularly scheduled payday on a biweekly or
monthly basis, or on any basis other than a weekly basis. Yet, that is exactly
what the employers in this case did: they established a biweekly regular
payday for their employees whom the employers were required to pay
weekly.
[¶30] Section 621(2) simply dealt with the nonrecurring situation of
wages not paid on the regularly scheduled payday, and it required the
employer to pay on the next payday. In fact, section 621(2) further stated
that it "shall not be construed to permit nonpayment or withholding of
payment of wages when due." The opinion allows employers to ignore the
weekly payment requirement so long as they pay their employees by the
next regularly scheduled payday, whenever it is. Such a result was not
authorized by the plain meaning of the statute, and, therefore, it was not
what the Legislature intended.
[¶31] The opinion suggests that an employer who established a
biweekly payday for its employees, who were supposed to be paid weekly,
did so at the employer's peril because the Department of Labor could have
sought a forfeiture against the employer. If the Department, however, failed
to enforce the weekly pay requirement, employees were without a remedy if
they were not allowed to bring an action for the unpaid wages.{8}
[¶32] I conclude that the plain meaning of sections 621 and 626-A
required employers to pay wages to these employees weekly, and, when the
wages were not paid weekly, they were unpaid. The employees are entitled
to proceed with their statutory remedy for unpaid wages. For this reason I
would vacate the dismissal of the employees' claims for unpaid wages.
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