Cobb v. Contract Transport, Inc.
| Citation | 452 F.3d 543 |
| Decision Date | 28 June 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-6196.,05-6196. |
| Parties | Ronald COBB, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CONTRACT TRANSPORT, INC., Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
David R. Marshall, Lexington, Kentucky, for Appellant. Scott J. Beattie, Peddicord, Wharton, Spencer & Hook, Des Moines, Iowa, for Appellee.
ON BRIEF:
David R. Marshall, Lexington, Kentucky, for Appellant. Scott J. Beattie, Peddicord, Wharton, Spencer & Hook, Des Moines, Iowa, for Appellee.
Before: MOORE, COLE, and CLAY, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff, Ronald Cobb, appeals a July 13, 2005 final judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, granting Defendant, Contract Transport, Inc.'s, motion for summary judgment and dismissing Plaintiff's action brought pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601-54. The district court dismissed Plaintiff's action on the ground that Plaintiff was not an "eligible employee" within the meaning of the FMLA. For the following reasons, we hold that Plaintiff is an "eligible employee" within the meaning of the FMLA and REVERSE the order of the district court.
Plaintiff began working as a truck driver for Byrd Trucking, a Texas corporation, in July 2000. At that time, Byrd had a contract with the United States Postal Service ("USPS") to deliver mail between Denver and Philadelphia. Plaintiff was assigned to drive a truck carrying mail along this route. Plaintiff would pick up a truck carrying mail from another driver at a truck stop near his home in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky and deliver the mail to a post office depot in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, Plaintiff would pick up a new batch of mail and take that mail to Mt. Vernon, Illinois. In Mt. Vernon, Plaintiff would meet up with another truck carrying mail from Denver. Plaintiff and the truck driver from Denver would switch trucks, and Plaintiff would drive the new truck back to Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, while the truck from Philadelphia would continue on to Denver with a new driver.
In June 2003, Defendant, Contract Transport, Inc., an Iowa corporation, underbid Byrd for a new contract on the Denver-Philadelphia route. Defendant's contract with USPS was a two-year contract. The contract specified in detail the manner in which Defendant was to conduct its business. It specified, among other things: (1) the type of truck Defendant was required to use; (2) hiring criteria for truck drivers; and (3) employee wages, hours, and health insurance.
To staff the Denver-Philadelphia route, Defendant hired truck drivers formerly employed by Byrd on the Denver-Philadelphia route. Byrd gave Defendant a list of its drivers employed on the route and advised its employees to contact Defendant if they wanted to keep driving on the route. Defendant also placed advertisements for truck driving positions in the newspaper. Defendant's co-owner and employee, Jean Nible, estimates that the majority of drivers employed on the route formerly worked for Byrd.
Plaintiff was one of Defendant's hires for the Denver-Philadelphia route. He received assignments from Defendant's dispatcher, who was located in Des Moines, Iowa. Otherwise, he conducted his route in the same manner under Defendant as he had under Byrd Trucking. He continued to use relay points in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In fact, he continued to the use the exact same public truck stop in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky to pick up trucks from Denver.
In the fall of 2003, Plaintiff began having stomach pain. On December 19, 2003, Plaintiff's doctor, Dr. Hall, determined that Plaintiff's gallbladder required immediate removal. Dr. Hall scheduled Plaintiff for surgery with Dr. Burton on the first available date, December 22, 2003. That same day, December 19, 2003, Plaintiff called his dispatchers in Des Moines, Iowa, George, Bob, and Jason, to explain that he needed leave on December 22, 2003. The dispatchers instructed Plaintiff to contact Jean Nible or Human Resources, also located in Des Moines, Iowa.
On December 29, 2003, Plaintiff called Jean Nible and informed her that he was unable to work and that he had been unable to work since December 19, 2003. Jean Nible responded that she would send him paperwork for short term disability. Along with the paperwork, Jean Nible sent Plaintiff a memorandum terminating his employment. The memorandum stated that Defendant considered Plaintiff to have voluntarily resigned as of December 19, 2003 because he had "ma[de] himself unavailable for work." (J.A. at 203.)
On May 26, 2004, Plaintiff filed a complaint in a Kentucky state court, alleging that Defendant violated the FMLA in terminating him. Defendant removed the action to federal district court and discovery ensued. In June 2005, Defendant moved for summary judgment on the ground that Plaintiff was not an "eligible employee" within the meaning of the FMLA. Specifically, Defendant contended that Plaintiff was not an "eligible employee" because he had worked for Defendant for less than twelve months and because his "worksite" was located in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, where Defendant employed less than fifty employees. Plaintiff responded on June 29, 2005, arguing that he was an "eligible employee" because the three years he worked for Defendant's predecessor, Byrd Trucking, counted toward his FMLA eligibility under the theory of successor liability. Additionally, Plaintiff argued that he did not work at a worksite with less than fifty employees because Des Moines, Iowa, not Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, constituted his "worksite."
On July 13, 2005, the district court issued an opinion and order granting Defendant's motion for summary judgment. The district court held that Plaintiff was not an "eligible employee" within the meaning of the FMLA because he had worked for Defendant for less than 12 months. The district court declined to apply the doctrine of successor liability and count the three years Plaintiff had worked for Byrd Trucking toward Plaintiff's FMLA eligibility, concluding that because there was no "continuity of ownership or control" between Byrd Trucking and Defendant, no predecessor-successor relationship could exist. (J.A. at 304.) The district court reasoned there could be no "continuity of ownership or control" without a merger or transfer of assets between Defendant and Byrd Trucking. Plaintiff now appeals the district court's holding, contending that a merger or transfer of assets is not a precondition to successor liability under the FMLA.
Before reaching the merits of Plaintiff's appeal, we must address Defendant's contention that the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over Plaintiff's claims. Defendant argues that the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to hear Plaintiff's FMLA claims because Defendant is not an "employer" within the meaning of the FMLA, or alternatively, because Plaintiff is not an "eligible employee" within the meaning of the FMLA. This Court's 1998 decision in Douglas v. E.G. Baldwin & Associates, 150 F.3d 604, 607-08 (6th Cir.1998), supports Defendant's position. In Douglas, this Court held that "[f]or a federal court to exercise subject matter jurisdiction in a statutory scheme such as the FMLA, the defendant-company must meet the statutory definition of `employer.'" Id. Douglas' reasoning applies with equal force to whether an employee meets the FMLA's definition of "eligible employee." Nonetheless, because intervening Supreme Court precedent has made clear that Douglas was incorrectly decided, we decline to follow Douglas and instead hold that the district court had subject-matter jurisdiction over Plaintiff's claims. See Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp., ___ U.S. ___, 126 S.Ct. 1235, 163 L.Ed.2d 1097 (2006) (); see also Primax Recoveries, Inc. v. Gunter, 433 F.3d 515, 519 (6th Cir.2006) ().
1. Section 1331 of Title 28 of the United States Code grants the district court subject-matter jurisdiction over Plaintiff's FMLA claims.
Section 1331 of Title 28 of the United States Code grants federal district courts subject-matter jurisdiction over all claims "arising under" federal law. 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Arbaugh, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S.Ct. at 1239. A claim arises under federal law when "the plaintiff's statement of his own cause of action shows that it is based upon [federal] laws or [the federal] Constitution." Louisville & N.R. Co. v. Mottley, 211 U.S. 149, 152, 29 S.Ct. 42, 53 L.Ed. 126 (1908); see also Bell v. Hood, 327 U.S. 678, 681, 66 S.Ct. 773, 90 L.Ed. 939 (1946) ( ) There are only two exceptions to this "well-pleaded complaint rule." A plaintiff's claim that federal law entitles him to relief is insufficient to create subject-matter jurisdiction where (1) "the claim `clearly appears to be immaterial and made solely for the purpose of obtaining jurisdiction'" or (2) the "claim is wholly insubstantial and frivolous." Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env't, 523 U.S. 83, 89, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998).
In this case, the district court clearly...
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