Boogers v. Joseph G. Moretti, Inc.
| Decision Date | 08 December 1965 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 5847. |
| Citation | 247 F. Supp. 981 |
| Parties | Willem J. BOOGERS, Plaintiff, v. JOSEPH G. MORETTI, INC. and Nat G. Harrison Overseas Corporation, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Panama Canal Zone |
De Castro & Robles, Balboa, Canal Zone, for plaintiff.
Henry L. Newell, Balboa, Canal Zone, and Lucien G. Woodard, Miami, Fla., for defendants.
The plaintiff, Willem J. Boogers, brought this action against the joint venture known as Joseph G. Moretti, Inc. and Nat G. Harrison Overseas Corporation claiming that he is entitled to overtime compensation, liquidated damages and an attorney fee pursuant to the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 as amended, 29 U.S.C., Chapter 8. Plaintiff claims that the joint venture was engaged in the performance of Contract Number PC-2-862 with the Panama Canal Company for the widening of the Bas Obispo-Las Cascadas Reaches of the Panama Canal Company, and that he was employed by them as a clerk for the preparation of payrolls and other clerical duties. He says that this employment began on January 16, 1963 and continued through September 30, 1964, and that he was paid $100 per week to work 40 hours, at the beginning of his employment, and later received a raise to $110 a week for 40 hours, which was the amount he was making when his employment terminated.
The plaintiff states that actually he worked many more hours than the 40 hours agreed upon and that he kept careful and detailed diaries showing the hours of overtime worked and that he should be paid at the rate of time and a half for his regular hourly wage for these overtime hours.
The plaintiff asserts that he has requested payment from the defendants and the defendants refuse payment.
The defendants state that the plaintiff is not entitled to the overtime requested; that he was fully paid under an agreed weekly salary arrangement, and the defendants deny any liability.
1. The plaintiff, Willem J. Boogers, was employed as an office clerk by the defendants and his duties were typing pencil prepared correspondence, preparing payrolls from the time books, calculating the pay, and preparing checks for distribution to the employees of the joint venture.
2. The defendants, Joseph G. Moretti, Inc. and Nat G. Harrison Overseas Corporation, were at all times during the plaintiff's employment engaged as a joint venture in the performance of Contract Number PC-2-862 with the Panama Canal Company for the widening of Bas Obispo-Las Cascadas Reaches of the Panama Canal Company.
3. The Panama Canal is an international waterway that is used for interstate and international commerce and by a treaty with the Republic of Panama, it is under the operation and control of the United States and subject to the laws enacted by the Congress of the United States.
4. The plaintiff began his employment with the defendants on January 16, 1963 and was paid $100 a week from that date until May 8, 1963, which is $2.50 an hour, when based upon a 40-hour week. The diaries kept by the plaintiff show that he worked longer than eight hours per day on many days and also on Saturdays and there was accumulated 136 hours of overtime employment. The rate of time and a half at the regular rate of $2.50 per hour would be $3.75 which multiplied by the 136 hours, totals $510.00.
5. The plaintiff received a $10 weekly raise which began on May 9, 1963, and he was paid, therefore, at the rate of $110 per week from that date through September 30, 1964, when his employment terminated. The basic pay per hour for a 40-hour week at that rate of pay is $2.75. The overtime, or time and a half rate, is $4.12½ per hour. Plaintiff's diaries show that he worked longer than eight hours on certain days during this period and also on Saturdays, and his diaries show that he worked a total of 719 hours overtime during this period, making a total, at the overtime rate, of $2,965.88.
6. The extra hours that the plaintiff listed in his diaries were not kept on the payroll records of the defendants as he was restricted by his superiors to listing himself there as receiving a weekly salary and not an hourly wage, and he kept his diaries by checking against the notes maintained by the watchmen at the gate of entry to the area where the defendants were performing the construction contract. The gate was a mile and a half from the office where plaintiff was employed and did his work.
7. The defendants were sincere in their thought that the weekly pay plan with the plaintiff was a proper contract under the Wage and Hour Laws, but there is no evidence to the effect that they took any steps to determine whether or not they were complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act in their employment relationship with the plaintiff.
8. Defendants knew that the plaintiff was working longer than the 40-hour week period and that he was working on Saturdays, and the $10 raise given him on May 9, 1963 was an attempt to compensate him for the extra work.
9. Plaintiff never made known to the defendants that he was claiming extra pay or overtime for his extra hours of work until after his employment was terminated. He was planning to make such demands and corresponded with the United States Department of Labor office in Santurce, Puerto Rico by letter of September 9, 1963. He received a reply advising him of his rights...
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Joseph G. Moretti, Inc. v. Boogers, 23460.
...per week from January 16, 1963 through September 30, 1964. The detailed facts appear in the opinion of the Court below, reported at 247 F.Supp. 981 (1965). We, therefore shall not reiterate the facts here. Judgment was entered for the employee in the amount of $3,475.88, plus costs and atto......