Anderson v. Cagle's, Inc., 06-10306.

• Decision Date: 11 June 2007
• Docket Number: No. 06-10306.,06-10306.
• Citation: 488 F.3d 945
• Parties: Lessie ANDERSON, Burnice Cretcher, Brenda Geter, Dexter Jackson, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CAGLE'S, INC., Cagle Foods JV, LLC, All Defendants, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

488 F.3d 945

Lessie ANDERSON, Burnice Cretcher, Brenda Geter, Dexter Jackson, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CAGLE'S, INC., Cagle Foods JV, LLC, All Defendants, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 06-10306.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

June 11, 2007.

Herman N. Johnson, Jr., Robert L. Wiggins, Jr., Wiggins, Childs, Quinn & Pantazis, P.C., Birmingham, AL, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

James L. Stine, Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Nelson & Schneider, P.C., Atlanta, GA, Malcolm S. Gould, Gary D. Fry, Howard A. Rosenthal, Philadelphia, PA, for Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

Before DUBINA and COX, Circuit Judges, and SCHLESINGER,^* District Judge.

DUBINA, Circuit Judge:

Appellants, plaintiffs in the underlying action, appeal the district court's order decertifying their collective action alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") of 1938, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219 (2000), and severing the defendants, Cagle's, Inc. ("Cagle's") and Cagle Foods JV, LLC ("CFJV"),¹ and its grant of summary judgment in favor of CFJV. Having thoroughly reviewed the record and the parties' briefs on appeal, and with the benefit of oral argument, we affirm the district court's order decertifying the collective action and its grant of summary judgment in favor of CFJV. Therefore, we need not and do not address the district court's decision to sever the defendants.

I. BACKGROUND

Cagle's and CFJV (collectively "the employers") are engaged in the business of hatching, growing, slaughtering, and processing chickens for distribution and eventual consumption. During the relevant time period, Cagle's owned and operated multiple production facilities located in Georgia and Alabama. Prior to the relevant time period, in 1993, Cagle's partnered with Executive Holdings, L.P., to create CFJV for the purpose of operating a production facility in Camilla, Georgia, previously operated solely by Cagle's.

The plaintiffs in the underlying action, some of whom are not parties to this appeal, can be divided into four distinct groups: (1) three named plaintiffs who at the time the lawsuit was filed were employed or had been employed directly by Cagle's in the company's Macon, Georgia, and/or Pine Mountain Valley, Georgia, plants ("named Cagle's plaintiffs"); (2) opt-in plaintiffs who at the time they joined the lawsuit were employed or had been employed directly by Cagle's in any of several plants, including the Macon and Pine Mountain Valley plants ("opt-in Cagle's plaintiffs"); (3) nine named plaintiffs who at the time the lawsuit was filed were employed or had been employed directly by CFJV in the Camilla plant ("named CFJV plaintiffs"); and (4) opt-in plaintiffs who at the time they joined the lawsuit were employed or had been employed directly by CFJV in the Camilla plant ("opt-in CFJV plaintiffs").²

At the time the lawsuit was filed, the twelve named plaintiffs worked or had worked on the employers' production lines and were paid according to a line-time method that calculates compensable time based on when the chicken to be processed reaches the production line. Pay begins when the first chicken reaches the production line. It ends when the last chicken reaches the production line.

As part of their jobs, the named plaintiffs are required to wear various articles of protective clothing, including smocks, hair/beard nets, gloves, and hearing protection, though the clothing required varies depending upon the particular job responsibilities. The employers require employees to arrive before line-time begins in order to don the clothing and remain after line-time ends to doff the clothing. In addition, the named plaintiffs, who are represented by the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union ("RWDSU"), are required to don/doff the protective clothing in conjunction with their breaks. Prior to the adoption of the most recent collective bargaining agreement in 2003, the named plaintiffs received no compensation for donning/doffing the protective clothing, which they contend is compensable under the FLSA.

The named plaintiffs also challenged the employers' line-time pay policy to the extent that it interferes with their unpaid breaks. According to the named plaintiffs, the employers require them to remain on the production line after line-time has stopped, and breaks have begun, in order to process the last chicken on the production line. This, too, the named plaintiffs contend, violates the FLSA.

The district court initially certified the collective action and facilitated notice to would-be opt-in plaintiffs.³ In all, approximately 2,200 employees or former employees of Cagle's and/or CFJV joined the lawsuit. Of those who joined, approximately 388 were later dismissed, 217 of whom the named plaintiffs themselves sought to dismiss because their claims were not commensurate with the named plaintiffs' primary claims. Of the other 171 who were dismissed, 56 were dismissed because their claims fell outside the statute of limitations, and 115 were dismissed for failure to comply with discovery requests.

Following discovery, both Cagle's and CFJV moved to sever the claims against the respective defendants and decertify the collective action. The district court granted the motions after finding that the putative plaintiff class members remaining were not all similarly situated. Subsequently, both Cagle's and CFJV separately filed motions for summary judgment. Before the district court ruled on the motions, however, the three named Cagle's plaintiffs settled their claims, and, accordingly, the district court denied as moot the summary judgment motion filed by Cagle's. The district court subsequently granted CFJV's motion for summary judgment after concluding that the time the named CFJV plaintiffs spent changing in and out of their protective clothing at the beginning and end of the workday was not compensable according to section 3(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1949, Pub.L. No. 81-393, § 3(d), 63 Stat. 910, 911 (1949) (codified at 29 U.S.C. § 203(o) (2000)) ["§ 203(o)"]. The district court then entered judgment against the named CFJV plaintiffs on all of their claims.

The named CFJV plaintiffs filed a motion to alter or amend the judgment. Before the district court ruled on that motion, however, the named CFJV plaintiffs and all of the former opt-in plaintiffs joined in a motion to intervene to permit the opt-in plaintiffs to appeal the district court's orders decertifying the collective action and severing the defendants. The named CFJV plaintiffs and the former opt-in plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal on the same day they moved to intervene. The district court denied the motion to intervene after concluding that it lacked jurisdiction to grant the motion. The district court also denied the named CFJV plaintiffs' motion to alter or amend the judgment. Immediately thereafter, the appellants, which do not include the named Cagle's plaintiffs, amended their notice of appeal to challenge these denials as well.

II. ISSUES

1. Whether we have subject matter jurisdiction over this appeal as it relates to Cagle's.

2. Whether the district court abused its discretion when it decertified the collective action.

3. Whether the district court erred when it granted summary judgment in favor of CFJV.⁴

III. STANDARDS OF REVIEW

We review a "grant of summary judgment de novo, drawing all [reasonable] inferences in favor of the non-moving party." Fin. Sec. Assurance, Inc. v. Stephens, Inc., 450 F.3d 1257, 1269 (11th Cir. 2006). Summary judgment is appropriate when "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). We review the district court's decision to decertify the collective action for an abuse of discretion. See, e.g., Hipp v. Liberty Nat'l Life Ins. Co., 252 F.3d 1208, 1219 (11th Cir.2001).

IV. DISCUSSION

A. Jurisdiction

Cagle's challenges our jurisdiction as well as the appellants' standing to name Cagle's as a party to this appeal. Essentially, Cagle's takes the position that all claims against it were resolved when the district court adopted the settlement agreement between Cagle's and the named Cagle's plaintiffs.

The arguments Cagle's presents fail to acknowledge or address the named and opt-in CFJV plaintiffs' contention, which they have maintained throughout the underlying action, that Cagle's was their employer in conjunction with CFJV and, thus, liable to them directly for FLSA violations. See 29 U.S.C. § 203(d), (g) (2000) (defining, respectively, "employer" and "employ"); 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) (2000) (prescribing a private right of action against employers who violate the FLSA). Although the outcome of this opinion renders it unnecessary to address the issue of joint liability, the merits of the arguments on appeal have no bearing on the threshold question of our jurisdiction. See, e.g., Jackson v. Cintas Corp., 425 F.3d 1313, 1316 (11th Cir.2005) (describing jurisdiction as a "threshold issue").

Cagle's focuses on the appellants' ability to challenge the district court's adoption of the settlement agreement and the effects of the district court's severance order, which regrettably lacks explanation of both the district court's rationale and intent. Cagle's does not offer any legal argument explaining why, assuming the appellants' joint liability theory is correct, this court nevertheless would lack jurisdiction. The argument Cagle's offers regarding the named and opt-in CFJV plaintiffs' standing is similarly lacking. The employers' alleged joint liability is directly at issue. Therefore, we have jurisdiction over Cagle's, and the named and opt-in CFJV plaintiffs have standing to name Cagle's as a party to this appeal. See 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (2000) (prescribing appellate jurisdiction over final decisions of district courts); Knight v....