United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

FILED March 9, 2021 No. 20-60311 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk

Mary Aldridge; Ben Alexander; Tara Alexander; Barbara Allen; Theodore Ambrose; Et al,

Plaintiffs—Appellants,

versus

Mississippi Department of Corrections; State of Mississippi; Burl Cain, Commissioner, Mississippi Department of Corrections; Tate Reeves, In his official capacity as Governor of the State of Mississippi; John Doe Defendants 1-25,

Defendants—Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi USDC No. 3:19-CV-868

Before Wiener, Dennis, and Duncan, Circuit Judges. Wiener, Circuit Judge: The issue presented here is one of first impression in our circuit, viz., does the Fair Labor Standards Act preempt redundant state law tort claims for unpaid minimum wages and overtime compensation when the state’s law does not provide for minimum wages and overtime compensation? We join the Fourth Circuit in answering “yes,” and therefore affirm. Case: 20-60311 Document: 00515772396 Page: 2 Date Filed: 03/09/2021

No. 20-60311

*** The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (“FLSA” or “Act”) created “a comprehensive federal wage-and-hour scheme.”1 Congress enacted the FLSA to eliminate “labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency, and general well- being of workers.”2 The principal purpose of the Act is “to protect all covered workers from substandard wages and oppressive working hours.” 3 “[T]he FLSA was designed to give specific minimum protections to individual workers and to ensure that each employee covered by the Act would receive ‘“[a] fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work”’ and would be protected from ‘the evil of “overwork” as well as “underpay.”’” 4 Workers covered by the Act are entitled to a minimum wage and overtime compensation.5 Importantly for this case, the Act contains its own enforcement mechanism: Employees have a private right of action against employers for unpaid minimum wages and overtime compensation.6 The Act also contains a “savings clause” which states: “No provision of this chapter or of any order thereunder shall excuse noncompliance with any . . . State law or municipal ordinance establishing a minimum wage higher than the minimum wage established under this chapter or a maximum workweek

1 Parker Drilling Mgmt. Servs., Ltd. v. Newton, 139 S. Ct. 1881, 1882 (2019); see also 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. 2 29 U.S.C. § 202(a). 3 Barrentine v. Arkansas–Best Freight Sys., Inc., 450 U.S. 728, 739 (1981). 4 Id. (quoting Overnight Motor Transp. Co. v. Missel, 316 U.S. 572, 578 (1942)) (second alteration in original) (emphasis omitted). 5 29 U.S.C. §§ 206–07. 6 Id. § 216(b).

2 Case: 20-60311 Document: 00515772396 Page: 3 Date Filed: 03/09/2021

No.