Battaglia v. General Motors, Corp.
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
169 F.2d 254 (2d Cir. 1948)
Battaglia and other General Motors employees (plaintiffs) sued under the Fair Labor Standards Act for unpaid overtime for preliminary and incidental work activities, following Supreme Court decisions that had interpreted 'work week' broadly to include such activities and triggered nearly two thousand similar lawsuits nationwide. Congress responded by passing the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947, which eliminated employer liability for that type of activity and stripped federal and state courts of jurisdiction over such claims regardless of when they were filed. After the Act took effect while Battaglia's case was pending, the district court dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, and the plaintiffs appealed.
Whether Congress has the authority to enact legislation withdrawing federal and state court jurisdiction over certain claims, so long as the effects do not violate constitutional rights.