453 Syllabus W. J. NOLAN v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43861 L. JACOBSON v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43862 J. A. HIGUERA v. THE UNITED STATES CAROLYN HATHAWAY, GUARDIAN OF ESTATE OF C. H. DAMSTED v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43864 R. GALLEGUILLO v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43865 F. G. GRIGSBY v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43866 K. H. JOHNSON v. THE UNITED STATES R. DUPOUY v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43868 C. J. DEGEN v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43869 W. L. NOLAN v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43870 R. C. JENSEN v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43871 M. J. RODERICK v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43872 L. K. MOORE v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43873 C. LEDERER v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43874 Syllabus M. KELLEY v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43875 R. DINKEL v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43876 93 C. Cls. A. J. MOUCHOU v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43877 C. R. TAYLOR v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43878 M. KNULL v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43879 S. W. LIGON v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43880 C. C. JOHNSON v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43881 W. P. BRENNAN v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43882 C. F. SIEBERT v. THE UNITED STATES J. T. WEEKS v. THE UNITED STATES No. 43884 [Decided April 7, 1941] On the Proofs Pay and allowances; extra labor as firemen at Mare Island Navy Yard contrary to order of Secretary of the Navy.-Under the special jurisdictional act, it is held that the intention of Congress in enacting said act was to provide that plaintiffs should be compensated, at their respective rates of pay, for the 8 hours they were severally required to stand by and be on call for the respective number of days involved during the period in question. 453 Reporter's Statement of the Case The Reporter's statement of the case: Mr. Robert F. Klepinger for the plaintiffs; Rhodes, Klepinger & Rhodes were on the brief; Messers Fred B. Rhodes, Cooper B. Rhodes and Robert F. Klepinger of counsel. Mr. John B. Miller, with whom was Mr. Assistant Attorney General Francis M. Shea, for the defendant. The court made special findings of fact, as follows, in the case of W. J. Nolan, No. 43861: 1. This action, one of twenty-four, is brought by virtue of an Act of Congress, approved May 15, 1937, 50 Stat. 964, for the recovery of "loss and damage" to the plaintiff for "extra labor" performed as fireman at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California. The same relevant circumstances of employment apply to the entire group of plaintiffs, save for the fact that the length of service during the period covered by the Congressional reference differs in individual cases. Therefore, reference will be made in the findings in the other twenty-three cases to the findings in the instant case, as the facts are identical and applicable. 2. The Act of Congress reads as follows: Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon the Court of Claims of the United States to hear, determine, and render judgment upon the claims of W. J. Nolan, L. Jacobson, J. A. Higuera, C. H. Damsted, R. Galleguillo, F. G. Grigsby, K. H. Johnson, R. Dupouy, C. J. Degen, W. L. Nolan, R. C. Jensen, M. J. Roderick, L. K. Moore, C. Lederer, M. Kelley, R. Dinkel, A. J. Mouchou, C. R. Taylor, M. Knull, S. W. Ligon, C. C. Johnson, W. P. Brennan, C. F. Siebert, and J. T. Weeks, all of Vallejo, California, for extra labor over and above the sixteen-hour period of duty per day required to be performed at Mare Island Navy Yard, California, which extra labor over said period was not in accordance with the order of the Secretary of the Navy, dated December 1, 1920; Provided, That the action in the Court of Claims to establish such losses and damages may be instituted within one year from the date of the approval of this Act, without regard to any statute of limitations. Reporter's Statement of the Case 93 C. Cls. 3. The individual claims all date from December 1, 1920, down to and including the 1st day of March 1925. 4. The fire department at Mare Island over the period in question consisted of a corps of men employed in various ratings in the regular Navy Yard forces, and assigned to duty as firemen. W. J. Nolan, the Acting Fire Chief, was employed as a leadingman engineman and the other men on the corps were employed as chauffeurs, laborers, general helpers and cementers. The number of men varied from time to time, being as high as twenty-four in 1920 and never falling below fourteen down to the year 1925. 5. The men were assigned to fire duty on their own applications, and there does not appear to have been any difficulty in securing the authorized quota of firemen. 6. The duties of firemen were primarily to man the apparatus, respond to alarms and extinguish fires; but in addition to such duty, owing to the fact that the Fire Department serviced a Navy Yard of large area, many other duties were necessary. Such other duties consisted of servicing naval vessels with water when such vessels arrived or departed from Mare Island after the regular working hours of the yard; repairing to power lines and breaks in water service and plumbing; replacing lights on street obstructions; driving a truck or light vehicle for use by the officers at Navy Yard shops; wetting the streets in particular areas; and in general acting as an emergency unit for any untoward circumstances. There was no record kept of the number of these varied duties or special calls, the time records of the fire house simply showing that eight hours' regular duty per day from 8:00 A. M. to 5:00 P. M. were put in by the men, but not the special duties performed nor their specific nature or duration. The records do not show during which period of duty such special services were rendered, and the testimony establishes only that such duties were performed during the night, that is, between the hours of 5:00 P. M. of one day and 8:00 A. M. of the next. 7. The firemen were quartered at the fire house and were required to be available twenty-four hours per day duty six days a week. Each man was allowed thirty days annual leave and one day off each week Whenever a man worked on 453 Reporter's Statement of the Case Sunday he took off some other day during the week. The rate of pay for Sunday work was time and one-half or fifty percent additional to normal pay. On holidays, as distinguished from Sundays, the rate of pay was two and onehalf times the regular pay rate. Sunday pay was allowed each fireman performing duty on that day even though his work week consisted of only six days, including such Sunday. 8. Firemen on duty at Mare Island could not leave the Yard without first obtaining special permission from the Fire Chief. Occasionally such passes were granted, but this was in the nature of a special privilege and applications for them were more frequently refused than granted. Each pass issued by the Fire Chief had to be approved by the Captain of the Yard. The record does not show that any pass issued by Chief Nolan was refused by the Captain of the Yard. As illustrating the hours required of the firemen to be on duty and to stand by for fire calls and other emergency duties, the following schedule is set forth, which, with the exception of annual leave taken at varying intervals throughout the year, is typical of the period from January 1, 1920, to January 1, 1924: |