United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Overstreet v. North Shore Corp., 318 U.S. 125 (1943)

Overstreet v. North Shore Corporation

No. 284

Argued January 11, 1943

Decided February 1, 1943

318 U.S. 125

Syllabus

1. The Fair Labor Standards Act is applicable to employees who are engaged in interstate commerce, but not to those whose activities merely affect interstate commerce. P. 318 U. S. 128.

2. The Fair Labor Standards Act is applicable to employees (of a private corporation) who are engaged in the operation and maintenance of a drawbridge which is part of a toll road used extensively by persons and vehicles traveling in interstate commerce, and which spans an intercoastal waterway used in interstate commerce. P. 318 U. S. 130.

So held as to one employee who attended to the raising and lowering of the bridge; another who was engaged in the maintenance and repair of the bridge, and a third who collected tolls from users of the road and bridge.

3. The applicability of the Fair Labor Standards Act does not depend upon the nature of the employer's business, but upon the character of the employees' activities. P. 318 U. S. 132.

4. That a corporation which owns and operates a toll road and drawbridge is subject to state taxation does not imply that it is free from federal regulation, or that its road and drawbridge are not instrumentalities of interstate commerce. P. 318 U. S. 132.

128 F.2d 450 reversed.

Certiorari, 317 U.S. 606, to review the affirmance of a judgment (43 F.Supp. 445) dismissing, as to the petitioners here, a complaint in an action for wages, overtime, and damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Page 318 U. S. 126