Hoy v. Progress Pattern Company
| Decision Date | 17 December 1954 |
| Docket Number | No. 12149.,12149. |
| Citation | 217 F.2d 701 |
| Parties | Harry HOY and Michael R. Schuster, Appellants, v. PROGRESS PATTERN COMPANY, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
George W. Crockett, Jr., Detroit, Mich., for appellants.
Roy F. Andes, Detroit, Mich., Omar Hansen, Detroit, Mich., on the brief, for appellee.
Before SIMONS, Chief Judge, and MARTIN and MILLER, Circuit Judges.
Appellants by this action sought to recover from the appellee, Progress Pattern Company, unpaid overtime compensation and liquidated damages pursuant to Section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, Sec. 216(b), Title 29 U.S. C.A.
The complaint alleges that the appellee, a Michigan corporation, was, during the period herein involved, engaged in the production of goods for interstate commerce; that the appellant, Harry Hoy, was an employee of the appellee during said time; that during the period of August 24, 1951 to August 10, 1953, the appellee employed appellant in the production of goods for interstate commerce for work weeks longer than 40 hours and failed and refused to compensate him for such employment in excess of 40 hours in said work weeks at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he was employed, in violation of the provisions of the Act.
The appellee moved to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that the Court lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter because appellant Hoy was one of the five stockholders in the appellee corporation, owning 225 shares of the 1725 shares issued, was one of the directors, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Vice President of the appellee corporation, and as such was not an employee within the meaning and intent of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 201 et seq.; that appellant was an executive of the appellee corporation; that appellant occupied an administrative status in the appellee corporation; that no relationship of employer and employee existed between the appellant and the appellee corporation within the meaning and intent of said Act; that the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted for the foregoing reasons; and that the appellant and the other four stockholders had entered into a contract among themselves that they would work for the appellee corporation on an hourly wage base of $2.00 per hour, later reduced to $1.50 per hour, for all hours' work regardless of whether the number of hours worked exceeded 40 hours per week, which agreement was accepted at a meeting of the board of directors on December 10, 1947.
An affidavit filed in support of the motion to dismiss states that the appellant during the period in question was a stockholder, officer, director and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the appellee corporation, and sets out the making of the agreement relied upon. Hoy's affidavit in opposition to the motion states that during 1947, while regularly employed at the Rouge Plant of the Ford Motor Company, he was asked to work for appellee's predecessor during off hours, which he did, later leaving Ford and working full-time; that the business was subsequently incorporated into what is now the appellee; that he was asked to and agreed to buy 250 shares of stock; that he was a member of the Pattern Makers Association, a trade union with which the Company had a contract governing wages, hours and working conditions; that although he was given the title of Vice President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, he had no active part or duties with respect to the office routine or management of the Company but worked at a bench and received no compensation except the wages earned by him as a pattern maker; that the President and Secretary and another employee did all of the supervising and the laying out of the work on the jobs.
An amended complaint made the appellant Michael R. Schuster a party plaintiff, with similar allegations about his employment by the appellee, and work by him in excess of the 40-hour work week.
The District Judge held...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Hess v. Suzuki, 1:10-cv-01821-AWI-BAM
...only to partnerships, not corporations.) In the Court's view, the circumstances here are more apposite to those in Hoy v. Progress Pattern Co., 217 F.2d 701 (6th Cir. 1954). The plaintiff in Hoy alleged he was employed by the defendant corporation for work weeks in excess of 40 hours betwee......
-
Wheeler v. Hurdman
...(officers-directors considered employees), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 819, 104 S.Ct. 80, 78 L.Ed.2d 90 (1983); Hoy v. Progress Pattern Co., 217 F.2d 701 (6th Cir.1954) (shareholder, vice-president, director and chairman of board considered employee). Cf. Bonilla v. Oakland Scavenger Co., 697 F.......
-
Hyland v. New Haven Radiology Associates, P.C.
...employee for Title VII purposes), vacated on other grounds, 442 U.S. 366, 99 S.Ct. 2345, 60 L.Ed.2d 957 (1979); Hoy v. Progress Pattern Co., 217 F.2d 701, 704 (6th Cir.1954) (one-eighth shareholder, vice president, director and chairman of board may be employee within purview of FLSA). This......
-
Tee-Pak, Inc. v. St. Regis Paper Company
...Estepp v. Norfolk & W. Ry. Co., 192 F.2d 889, C.A. 6th; Bellak v. United Home Life Ins. Co., 211 F.2d 280, 283, C.A. 6th; Hoy v. Progress Pattern Co., 217 F.2d 701, 704, C.A. 6th. See: Sartor v. Arkansas Gas Corp., 321 U.S. 620, 64 S.Ct. 724, 88 L.Ed. 967; White Motor Co. v. United States, ......