Hodgson v. Mauldin

• Decision Date: 15 June 1972
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 71-380.
• Citation: 344 F. Supp. 302
• Parties: James D. HODGSON, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor, Plaintiff, v. Edward F. MAULDIN, in his Individual Capacity and as Administrator of the Estate of Leonard S. Preuit, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama

344 F. Supp. 302

James D. HODGSON, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor, Plaintiff, v. Edward F. MAULDIN, in his Individual Capacity and as Administrator of the Estate of Leonard S. Preuit, Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 71-380.

United States District Court, N. D. Alabama, Northwestern Division.

June 12, 1972.

As Amended June 15, 1972.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

George Palmer, U. S. Dept. of Labor, Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiff.

E. B. Haltom, Jr., of Haltom & Patterson, Florence, Ala., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

I. INTRODUCTION

LYNNE, Chief Judge.

This action was initiated by the Secretary of Labor for the purpose of enjoining and redressing alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U. S.C. § 201 et seq. In its complaint, the Labor Department prays for the following specific forms of relief:

(1) a mandatory injunction compelling the defendant (a) to compensate his employees at prevailing minimum wage rates as required by 29 U.S.C. § 206, and (b) to keep and preserve accurate records of employee wages, hours, and other conditions of employment in compliance with 29 C.F.R. § 516; and

(2) a monetary judgment representing the amount of unpaid minimum wages withheld by defendant from certain employees during the period extending from January 3, 1969, through December 23, 1970.

By way of answer, the defendant concedes his noncompliance with federal minimum wage and record-keeping requirements, but insists that such strictures have no application to him in view of the exemption embodied in § 13(a) (6) (E) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 213(a) (6) (E) (Supp.1972). It has been formally stipulated between the parties that the single issue to be adjudicated by this Court is whether the exemption relied upon by the defendant is available within the factual context of this case.

Section 13(a) (6) (E) reads as follows:

The provisions of sections 206 and 207 of this title shall not apply with respect to . . . any employee employed in agriculture . . . if such employee is principally engaged in the range production of livestock. 29 U.S.C. § 213(a) (6) (E) (Supp. 1972) (emphasis added).

This exemption was enacted by Congress in 1966 and to date has remained unexposed to judicial construction or application. In view of the novel and abstruse nature of the question presented, an extensive non-jury trial has been conducted in an effort to develop all factual data which might bear on the applicability of § 13(a) (6) (E) to the defendant's enterprise.

II. FACTS

At all times relevant to this lawsuit, the defendant, Edward F. Mauldin, has conducted a vast cattle raising operation (herein referred to as the Mauldin-Preuit¹ enterprise) spanning some 7,215 acres in Lawrence and Colbert Counties, Alabama. Of the total acreage embraced by the defendant's operation, approximately 4,895 acres are devoted on a year-round basis to the production of beef cattle for commercial purposes.² This full-time cattle production land is divided either topographically or artificially into fifteen separate tracts, which have been euphemistically denominated by the defendant as "ranges." Each tract, or "range," is in turn subdivided into from one to four fenced-in pastures. Fourteen of the fifteen tracts and their component pastures are used exclusively for herding and grazing purposes, whereas the fifteenth tract, locally known as the "Hall Place Range," serves as a central base for the reception, assortment, and dispersal of cattle, as well as a general headquarters for the entire Mauldin-Preuit enterprise.

The following charts roughly summarize the data on file concerning the various tracts of land which make up the defendant's cattle production enterprise:

                -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   FULL-TIME BEEF CATTLE PRODUCTION LAND
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         |                |            |         |  Approx
                                         |                |            |  Miles  |  No. Head
                                         |  No. Fencedin  |     No.    |   From  |     of
                Name of Tract            |      Acres     |  Pastures  |   Hqts. |   Cattle
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                Hall Place Range         |      1040      |     4      |   --    |     75
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                Streater Place Range     |       300      |     2      |   15    |    100
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                Beavers Crossroad Range  |       460      |     1      |   12    |    200
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                White Oak Range          |       160      |     2      |   13    |     50
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                Preuit Place Range       |       200      |     4      |   10    |    100
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                Reeder Place Range       |       600      |     4      |    8    |    300
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                Pullen Place Range       |       375      |     2      |    5    |    125
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                Rocky Hill Range         |        60      |     1      |    5    |     40
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                Sykes Place Range        |       250      |     2      |    4    |    150
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                Harris Place Range       |       280      |     3      |    4    |     50
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                Pittman Place Range      |       300      |     1      |    3    |    225
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                Second Street Range      |       160      |     1      |    3    |     50
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                Johnson Place Range      |       160      |     1      |    2    |    125
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                East Meadow Range        |       220      |     1      |    2    |    150
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                West Meadow Range        |       330      |     1      |    2    |    250
                -------------------------|----------------|------------|---------|-----------
                                   |-------------------------------------|
                                   |TOTAL GRAZING ACREAGE W/IN ENTERPRISE|
                                   |-------------------------------------|
                -------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------
                Full-time grazing acreage                                        4,895 acres
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Part-time grazing acreage (Sudex)                                  210   "
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Part-time grazing acreage (Wheat)                                  360   "
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Other acreage set aside for grazing in winter months             1,750   "
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                TOTAL GRAZING ACREAGE                                            7,215   "
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                

The normal operation of the Mauldin-Preuit enterprise may be very generally described as follows. At periodic intervals during each year, Mr. Jack Mitchell, manager and field director of Mauldin-Preuit cattle operations, attends various livestock sales held around the state for the purpose of purchasing groups of yearlings. Following the consummation of any such purchase, the newly-acquired yearlings are transported by truck to the Hall Place Range where, upon arrival, they are innoculated, branded, tagged, dehorned, castrated, sprayed, and wormed. Thereafter, the calves are placed in an 80-acre "sick pasture" within the Hall Place Range for a three day recuperation period. Upon recuperation, the animals are sorted into herds according to size, quality, and breed, and each herd is collectively driven by horseback or transported by truck to a designated grazing pasture within any of the other fourteen tracts comprising the enterprise. It is contemplated that while the herds are in their respective grazing pastures, each individual cow will gain from one-and-a-half to two pounds daily. Typically, when the average weight of the animal units within a particular herd reaches the 700-750 pound range, the herd is sold for profit to a "feeder" in a western or midwestern state.³ The incessant process of purchasing, grazing, and selling beef cattle constitutes the very essence of the Mauldin-Preuit operation, and it recurs on a fairly large scale throughout each year.⁴

Certainly two of the most critical factual areas in determining the availability of the "range production" exemption in any case are (1) the nature and quality of the lands comprising the livestock operation in question, and (2) the principal duties and activities of the employees whose wages are at issue. For the most part, the defendant's lands are both noncultivated and unsuitable for cultivation because of poor soil texture and intermittently rugged terrain. Certain portions of the grazing surface, however, have at one time or another been artificially seeded or fertilized to supplement those grasses which are indigenous to the area. The duties of the Mauldin-Preuit employees are substantially identical,⁵ and, according to the undisputed evidence on record, consist primarily of constantly surveying and actively tending to the defendant's cattle. Because the potential...