George Alexander v. Sara, Incorporated and Dr. Harry L. Shaheen

The issue presented by this appeal is whether inmates at a state penitentiary, who perform work for a profit-making private entity conducting operations on prison grounds, are as to that private company within the coverage of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq. (“the Act”) and thus entitled to be paid minimum wages by it for their services performed for it. The plaintiffs appeal from dismissal of their suit upon summary judgment. 559 F.Supp. 42 (M.D.La.1983). We affirm.

The factual circumstances, briefly, are that the state Department of Corrections entered into a contract…