A federal judge ruled this week that the Farm Neck Golf Club is not required to pay its employees overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
In a four-page order and opinion, U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. found that even though the club is open most of the year, its average receipts for the six off-season months are far less than a third of its average receipts for the rest of the year, making it exempt from federal wage law.
The decision comes in a case brought by Anna Shkruratova, who was hired as a line cook at the Farm Neck restaurant in May 2016. According to court records, her initial pay was $15 an hour, which was raised to $16 in late June.
On several occasions, court records show, Ms. Shkrutova worked more than 40 hours in a single week but was not compensated at a higher hourly rate. She filed a lawsuit against Farm Neck, its owner, The Links at Martha’s Vineyard, general manager Timothy D. Sweet and restaurant manager Pascal Bitoun, claiming she was entitled to overtime and seeking to make the case a class action on behalf of other employees.
But on Monday this week the judge granted summary judgment for Farm Neck, saying the golf club meets one of two definitions of a “seasonal amusement or recreational establishment” under the FSLA, making it exempt from paying a higher hourly rate for overtime hours.
Businesses are exempt if during the previous calendar year, average receipts for any six months were less than 33.3 per cent of average receipts for the other six months. In 2015, the court found, Farm Neck’s total revenue for the six months beginning in April was $6 million, or about $1 million per month. During the six winter months, total revenue was $457,000, or about $76,000 per month, 7.6 per cent of the high-season amount.
Even if the restaurant was considered independent of the golf club, the result would be the same, the court ruled. In 2015, the restaurant earned an average of $193,000 in the six high-season months compared with an average of $12,300 monthly in the off-season.
The judge did not address claims under state law, saying Ms. Shkruratova would have to pursue those claims in state courts.
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