Edwards v. Niles Sales & Service, Inc., 05-10027-CIV.

• Decision Date: 27 June 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-10027-CIV.,05-10027-CIV.
• Citation: 439 F.Supp.2d 1202
• Parties: Leroy R. EDWARDS, Plaintiff, v. NILES SALES & SERVICE, INC., a Florida corporation for profit, and Jack Niles, individually Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida

439 F.Supp.2d 1202

Leroy R. EDWARDS, Plaintiff, v. NILES SALES & SERVICE, INC., a Florida corporation for profit, and Jack Niles, individually Defendants.

No. 05-10027-CIV.

United States District Court, S.D. Florida.

June 27, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

William O. Solms, Esq., Demahy Labrador Drake & Payne, PA, Coral Gables, FL, for Plaintiff.

Dale L. Friedman, Esq., Conroy Simberg Ganon Krevans, Abel Lurvey Morrow & Scheffer, P.A., Hollywood, FL, of Each Defendant.

ORDER

K. MICHAEL MOORE, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE came before the Court upon Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (DE # 42).

THIS MATTER was referred to the Honorable Barry L. Garber, United States Magistrate Judge (DE # 31). Magistrate Judge Garber issued a Report and Recommendation dated May 25, 2006 (DE # 50). Plaintiff objected to Magistrate Judge Garber's Report and Recommendation (DE # 53), and Defendants responded to Plaintiffs objections (DE # 56). After a de novo review of the record, and being otherwise fully advised in the premises, it is

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Magistrate Judge Garber's careful and well-reasoned Report and Recommendation (DE # 6) is ADOPTED in its entirety as the opinion of this Court and incorporated herein. It is therefore

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (DE # 42) is GRANTED. It is further

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Defendants' request for sanctions due to Plaintiffs failure to properly paginate the pages of his objections is DENIED. It is further

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that all pending motions are DENIED AS MOOT. The Clerk of Court is directed to CLOSE this case.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

GARBER, United States Magistrate Judge.

THIS CAUSE is before the Court on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (D.E.# 42), pursuant to an Order of Reference entered by the Honorable K. Michael Moore, United States District Judge. For the reasons set forth below, it is respectfully recommended that the Court GRANT Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff, a black male, formerly worked as an automobile and truck mechanic at Defendant Niles Sales & Service, Inc., a General Motors/Nissan dealership which is located in Key West, Florida. Defendant Jack Niles is the secretary of Niles Sales & Service, Inc., see Niles Aff. ¶ 2, and also allegedly owns that company, see Compl. ¶ 1.

On October 15, 2001, Plaintiff began to work for non-party Morrison Sales & Service ("Morrison"). See, e.g., Edwards Dep., at 32, 38-39, 51. Morrison paid Plaintiff $21.00 per hour when it hired him, but soon increased his pay rate to $22.00 per hour. See Edwards Dep., at 51, 104-05. Plaintiff worked for Morrison until June 28, 2002, when Defendant Niles Sales & Service, Inc., bought the dealership from Morrison. See, e.g., Compl. ¶ 7; Niles Aff. ¶ 3; Edwards Dep., at 106. During Plaintiff's entire tenure with Defendants, Defendants paid him $22.00 per hour.

On September 15, 2004, Plaintiff was involved in a work-related accident in Defendants' service garage. See Edwards Dep., at 137; Niles Aff. ¶ 13. Plaintiff injured his shoulder a result of that accident.¹ See Plaintiff's Response (D.E.# 48), at 3-4; Niles Aff. ¶ 13; Edwards May 5, 2006, Aff. ¶ 12; Edwards Apr. 25, 2006, Aff. ¶¶ 19-20. The following day, September 16, 2004, Plaintiff returned to work for part of the day. See Edwards Dep., at 7-8, 157-58. Because of the injury, however, Plaintiff did not return to work from September 17, 2004, until December 18, 2004. See id. at 7-8, 158.

Plaintiff applied for and received workers' compensation benefits, including payments for medical treatment and a percentage of his salary, as a result of that work-related accident and injury. See Niles Aff. ¶ 13; Edwards Dep., at 220. He continued to receive workers' compensation benefits until approximately January 18, 2006, when he agreed to a lump-sum settlement of his workers' compensation claim. See Defendants' Statement of Material Facts (D.E.# 43) at 8 ¶ 22; Edwards Apr. 25, 2006, Aff. ¶ 22; cf. Edwards Dep., at 9-11 (discussing fact that as of December 21, 2005, Plaintiff still was receiving workers' compensation benefits but had not obtained approval for a third surgery on his shoulder).

On December 18, 2004, after Plaintiff had been out of work for approximately three months because of his shoulder injury, Defendants terminated Plaintiff's employment.² See Edwards Dep., at 8, 127-30; Niles Aff. ¶ 17. When Defendant Jack Niles fired Plaintiff, he informed Plaintiff that "he needed to fill the position."³ Edwards Dep., at 129; see also, e.g., id. at 187-88, 219-20. As of December 21, 2005, the date of Plaintiff's deposition and more than one year after Plaintiff had been fired, Plaintiff still would have been unable to return to his position with Defendants because his doctors had not released him to return to work as a result of his shoulder injury. See Edwards Dep., at 8-9, 12, 245-46.

Plaintiff filed three EEOC charges of discrimination against Defendants. Plaintiff filed the first charge on June 29, 2004, before his accident and before Defendants fired him. In that charge, Plaintiff alleged discriminatory treatment because Defendant had hired a white mechanic, Keith Estep, who was less-qualified and had less experience than Plaintiff, at a higher pay rate than Plaintiff received. See Edwards Dep., Exh. 15; see also, e.g., Edwards Dep., at 168-69 (discussing first EEOC charge). Plaintiff filed the second charge on October 1, 2004, after his injury but before Defendants fired him. In that charge, Plaintiff alleged that Defendants had retaliated against him by issuing him a written warning for failing to report an on-the-job injury. See Edwards Dep., Exh. 14; see also, e.g., Edwards Dep., at 180 (discussing second EEOC charge). Plaintiff filed the third charge on January 3, 2005, after his injury and after Defendants fired him. In that charge, Plaintiff alleged that Defendants fired him in retaliation for filing the first two EEOC discrimination charges. See Edwards Dep., Exh. 16; see also, e.g., Edwards Dep., at 184-86 (discussing third EEOC charge); see generally Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (D.E.# 42), at 9 n. 1; Compl. ¶¶ 13, 15. Plaintiff received three right-to-sue letters from the EEOC. See Compl. ¶ 16 & Exhs. A-C.

On March 30, 2005, Plaintiff commenced this action. Plaintiff asserted three claims against Defendants. In Count I, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by failing to pay him overtime wages. See Compl. ¶¶ 11, 19. In Count II, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants discriminated against him because of his race, in violation of both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C. § 1981. See id. at 6 & ¶ 26. In Count III, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants fired him in retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim, in violation of Florida Statute § 440.205. See id. ¶ 29.

DISCUSSION

Defendants move for summary judgment as to all three of Plaintiff's claims.

Summary judgment standard

A party seeking summary judgment must demonstrate 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." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); see Maniccia v. Brown, 171 F.3d 1364, 1367 (11th Cir.1999); Campbell v. Sikes, 169 F.3d 1353, 1361 (11th Cir.1999). The movant bears the initial responsibility of informing the Court of the basis for its motion and of identifying those materials which demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

In response to a properly supported motion for summary judgment, "the adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the adverse party's pleadings, but ... must set forth specific facts which show a genuine issue for trial." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). If the non-moving party fails to "make a sufficient showing on an essential element of her case with respect to which she has the burden of proof," then the Court must enter summary judgment for the moving party. Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2552. The Court, however, must view the evidence and factual inferences reasonably drawn from the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See Maniccia, 171 F.3d at 1367.

"By its very terms, this standard provides that the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (emphasis added). The Court is not to resolve factual issues, but may only determine whether factual issues exist. A material fact is one which "might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law .. . ." Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. The Court's inquiry therefore is whether "there are any genuine factual issues that properly can be resolved only by a finder of fact because they may reasonably be resolved in favor of either party." Id. at 250, 106 S.Ct. at 2511.

Count I

In Count I, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants failed to pay him overtime wages,⁴ in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). Defendants move for summary judgment as to Count I on the ground that Plaintiff is subject to an exemption for FLSA overtime wages for certain mechanics "primarily engaged in selling or servicing automobiles, trucks, or farm implements ...." 29 U.S.C. § 213(b)(10)(A). In Response, Plaintiff abandons his overtime claim,⁵ and therefore it is recommended that the Court grant summary judgment in Defendants' favor as to that claim.

Although Plaintiff has abandoned his overtime claim, in his Response to Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, he seeks—for the first time—leave to amend the Complaint to state...