Anderson v. Perdue Farms, Inc.

• Citation: 604 F.Supp.2d 1339
• Decision Date: 10 March 2009
• Docket Number: Case No. 1:06-cv-01000-MEF-WC.
• Parties: Darryl ANDERSON, et al., Plaintiffs, v. PERDUE FARMS, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama

Page 1339

604 F.Supp.2d 1339

Darryl ANDERSON, et al., Plaintiffs, v. PERDUE FARMS, INC., Defendant.

Case No. 1:06-cv-01000-MEF-WC.

United States District Court, M.D. Alabama, Southern Division.

March 10, 2009.

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Joseph Allen Schreiber, Schreiber & Petro, PC, Birmingham, AL, Lance Harrison Swanner, The Cochran Firm, PC, Dothan, AL, Richard Bernard Celler, Morgan & Morgan, Davie, FL, Samuel Alex Cherry, Jr., Cochran, Cherry, Givens, Smith, Lane & Taylor, P.C., Dothan, AL, Bernard Dobbie Nomberg, Robert Joseph Camp, The Cochran Firm, Birmingham, AL, Peter Mark Petro, Schreiber & Petro, P.C., Birmingham, AL, for Plaintiffs.

Charles P. Groppe, James J. Kelley, Lexer I. Quamie, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Washington, DC, Sandra Beth Reiss, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, PC, Birmingham, AL, for Defendant.

Jonathan M. Kronheim, Paul L. Frieden, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor, Washington, DC, for Amicus.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MARK E. FULLER, Chief Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs in this collective action seek to vindicate rights protected by the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq. ("FLSA"). They allege that defendant Perdue Farms, Inc. ("Perdue") failed to compensate them and others similarly situated for all compensable time including (1) time spent clearing security and walking from security to time clock areas, (2) time spent donning and doffing required equipment "integral and indispensable" to principal work activities, (3) time spent walking to and from break areas to designated time clock areas, (4) time spent waiting to clock in, and (5) for two unpaid meal breaks. Perdue claims that it designed its timekeeping system pursuant to a groundbreaking consent judgment with the Department of Labor and that its pay practices compensate Plaintiffs for all compensable time.

Perdue filed a Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. # 78), and Plaintiffs filed a Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. # 91). Both Motions are now under submission and ripe for disposition. For the reasons set forth in this Memorandum Opinion and Order, Perdue's Motion is due to be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Plaintiffs' Motion is due to be DENIED.

II. JURISDICTION AND VENUE

This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 because Plaintiffs claims are pursuant to 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq. The parties do not contest venue and personal jurisdiction, and the Court finds a sufficient basis for each.

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Under Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). "An issue of fact is `genuine' if the record as a whole could lead a reasonable trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party. An issue is `material' if it might affect the outcome of the case under the governing law." Redwing Carriers, Inc. v. Saraland Apartments, 94 F.3d 1489, 1496 (11th Cir.1996) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)).

The party asking for summary judgment "always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of `the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any,' which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The movant can meet this burden by presenting evidence showing there is no dispute of material fact, or by showing the nonmoving party has failed to present evidence in support of some element of its case on which it bears the ultimate burden of proof. Id. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Once the moving party has met its burden, Rule 56(e) "requires the nonmoving party to go beyond the pleadings and by her own affidavits, or by the `depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file,' designate `specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.'" Id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548. To avoid summary judgment, the nonmoving party "must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). On the other hand, a court ruling on a motion for summary judgment must believe the evidence of the nonmovant and must draw all justifiable inferences from the evidence in the nonmoving party's favor. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505. After the nonmoving party has responded to the motion for summary judgment, the Court must grant summary judgment if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

IV. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The Court has carefully considered all deposition excerpts and documents submitted in support of and in opposition to the Motions. The Court has also considered the stipulations by and between the parties contained in this Court's Order on Pretrial Hearing. (Doc. # 160.) Because there are cross-motions for summary judgment in this case, the Court will consider the facts and reasonable inferences to be drawn from the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party as the Court considers each of the Motions. With this caveat, the submissions of the parties, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, establish the following relevant facts:

A. The Plant

Perdue operates a chicken processing plant in Dothan, Alabama. The plant operates five days per week, three shifts per day. Only the night (third) shift and the day (first) shift employees process poultry. First Processing is the area of the plant where employees introduce live chickens into the plant and hang them on hooks or shackles for killing, cleaning, eviscerating, and chilling. Second Processing is the area of the plant where employees cut up, marinate, debone, weigh, size, and pack chickens. A conveyor system moves the chickens through First Processing and into and through Second Processing. Plaintiffs are current and former First and Second Processing employees at the plant.

B. Kronos Timekeeping System

One of several Kronos time system clocks captures each employee's time. The time system captures all principal work activities as defined by a consent judgment between the Department of Labor and Perdue, which is discussed more fully below. Perdue issues each employee an electronic card that the employee swipes through the Kronos time system clock, and the Kronos system records each employee's time and stores the data electronically at Perdue's headquarters. There are two clocks in First Processing and six clocks in Second Processing. Perdue pays its hourly employees for all time captured by the Kronos system, which is not all the time employees spend at the plant.

Hourly employees at the plant are scheduled to work 37.5 hours per week, but they often work forty or more hours in a week when product demand so requires. Perdue pays employees time and one half of their regular rate of pay for hours recorded by the Kronos system in excess of forty hours per week.

C. A Typical Day at the Plant

Prior to the start of their shift, Processing employees park their cars in the parking lot on the facility complex. Employees walk through a gate in a chain link fence and display their Perdue identification cards to a third-party security guard on their way to the facility entrance. Employees do not normally stop at the security checkpoint, but they are subject to having their belongings searched. Also, employees who do not have their identification cards must wait for identification by the plant office. Employees then proceed to their designated entrance to the plant building where there are locker rooms, rest rooms, and break rooms for their use. Employees then await the beginning of their shift.

Perdue requires employees to don and doff numerous accoutrements, which the Court divides into two categories for convenience: Personal Protective Equipment ("PPE") and Departmental Equipment.¹ PPE consists of bump caps, hair nets, beard nets, safety glasses, ear plugs, and boots. Departmental Equipment may include gloves, hand or arm guards, aprons or smocks, and cutting equipment, depending on the employee's department.²

Before the start of their shift, employees walk from the break area and through a pair of double doors that lead to the production area. Federal regulations require that employees don PPE before entering the production area. These items may be obtained from the supply room or from supervisors prior to clocking in if employees do not have the items with them. Employees sanitize their boots upon entering the production area and proceed some distance to their designated time clock.³ Sometimes employees must wait in line to clock in. They don and sanitize Departmental Equipment after clocking in.

Employees then proceed to their work station and begin to work. After working for approximately two hours, their supervisor informs them that it is time for their first of two thirty-minute unpaid meal breaks. Employees sanitize and doff Departmental Equipment while on the clock. Employees proceed to their department Kronos time clock and swipe out to begin their break. They then walk to the double doors that lead out of the production area and sanitize their boots. Employees must continue to wear PPE until the exit the production area, when they may doff PPE.

As the end of the first thirty-minute meal break approaches, employees walk through...