Mitchell v. Riley’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

9 federal appellate · 1 district ·

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 24 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““When the employer has kept proper and accurate records the employee may easily discharge his burden by securing the production of those records. But where the employer’s records are inaccurate or inadequate and the employee cannot offer convincing substitutes a more difficult problem arises. The solution, however, is not to penalize the employee by denying him any recovery on the ground that he is unable to prove the precise extent of uncompensated work. Such a, result would place a premium on an employer’s failure to keep proper records in conformity with his statutory duty; it would allow the employer to keep the benefits of an employee’s labors without paying due compensation as contemplated by the Fair Labor Standards Act. In such a situation we hold that an employee has carried out his burden if he proves that he has in fact performed work for which he was improperly compensated and if he produces sufficient evidence to show the amount and extent of that work as a matter of just and reasonable inference. The burden then shifts to the employer to come forward with evidence of the precise amount of work performed or with evidence to negative the reasonableness of the inference to be drawn from the employee’s evidence. If the employer fails to produce such evidence, the court may then award damages to the employee, even though the result be only approximate.” Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Company, 328 U.S. 680 , 66 S.Ct. 1187 , 90 L.Ed. 1515 . (Emphasis added)”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Wirtz v. William H. LaDew of Louisiana, Inc. · Reeves v. International Telephone & Telegraph Corp.

2. ““Riley admittedly failed to preserve the daily time slips as he was required to do under 29 U.S.C.A. § 211 (c) and 29 C.F.R. (1961 Supp.), Sec. 516.6.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Fiore

3. “in effect ordered the fact finder to do the best he could in assessing damages.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Reeves v. International Telephone & Telegraph Corp.