Ninth Circuit Rejects Appeal of Partial Summary Judgment in Home Care Wage Case

In Solis v. Jasmine Hall Care Homes, Inc., --- F.3d ----, 2010 WL 2612692 (9th Cir., July 1, 2010), the Ninth Circuit dismissed as improper an appeal from an order granting partial summary judgment.

The defendants operated residential care facilities for developmentally disabled adults. The Department of Labor ("DOL") sued to enjoin violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), alleging that the defendants willfully violated FLSA's overtime compensation requirements. The parties brought cross-motions for partial summary judgment on the impact of a federal regulation on the action. The District Court granted partial summary judgment for the DOL, and the employer appealed.

The Ninth Circuit held that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal because there was no final decision.

Where there really is very strong reason for interlocutory correction of a district court error, even though the case falls within no exception from the final judgment rule, we can use mandamus. Beyond that, it is a rare district court case indeed that can be interrupted by an appeal if it does not fall within a statutory exception to the statutory final decision rule. The interlocutory appeal in this case is not the albino black bear that Gillespie excepts from the “final decision” requirement, so this interlocutory appeal must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

Slip op. at 4.