William O. Douglas

“ For the words Congress used in § 6 are too precise for extended argument. Three causes of action are covered-claims for 'unpaid minimum wages,' claims for 'unpaid overtime compensation,' and claims for 'liquidated damages' under three Acts, including the Walsh-Healey Act. The only 'liquidated damages' collectible under the Walsh-Healey Act are collectible by the United States. That marks a difference between that Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. For under the latter employees may bring suits for double the amount of unpaid wages, plus costs and attorneys' fees. ”

“ Respondent argues that even if this cause of action is subject to the two-year statute of limitations contained in § 6 of the Portal-to-Portal Act, the present suit was timely. The contention is that the cause of action accrues, and the two-year period begins to run, only after it is administratively determined by the Department of Labor that the contractor is liable to the United States for liquidated damages. If that contention is sound, the judgment below must stand as this suit was begun less than two years after the conclusion of the administrative proceedings.
We take the opposing view. ”

“ Mt. Clemens Pottery Co., 328 U.S. 680, 66 S.Ct. 1187, 90 L.Ed. 1515, which held that time necessarily spent by employees walking to work on the employer's premises and in preliminary activities after arriving at their places of work was working time within the scope of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 52 Stat. 1060, 63 Stat. 910, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., 29 U.S.C.A. § 201 et seq. The suits instituted by employees, the amounts claimed, and their threatened impact on business caused Congress to act. ”