Borup v. The CJS Solutions Group, LLC

Background

Timothy C. Borup worked for The CJS Solutions Group, LLC, doing business as The HCI Group (HCI), in May 2017. HCI assigned him to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he helped healthcare providers transition to the Epic patient-management system. Borup traveled to Rochester, stayed at a nearby hotel, worked there from May 4 through May 26, and then traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The lawsuit concerns whether Borup and other temporary workers HCI employed at the Mayo Clinic were “employees” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). HCI asked the court to assume for purposes of its motion that the workers were FLSA employees and to decide whether Borup’s travel to and from Rochester was compensable work time. The opinion states that if the court or a jury ultimately determines that Borup was not an employee, the travel-time issue would be moot.

Court’s Analysis

The court explained that Article III of the Constitution limits federal courts to deciding actual cases and controversies. Federal courts may not issue advisory opinions, which are opinions addressing hypothetical questions rather than a dispute requiring a present decision.

The court concluded that HCI’s requested ruling was not ripe for decision. Employee status was a dispositive threshold issue, but that issue had not yet been presented to the court. Deciding whether travel time was compensable while merely assuming employee status would require the court to rule on what the parties’ rights would be if a critical fact were later established. The court therefore declined to issue the requested advisory opinion.

Disposition

The court denied HCI’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, Docket No. 108, without prejudice. The order did not decide whether Borup or the other workers were FLSA employees, and it did not decide whether their travel time was compensable.