Hudgins v. Hart, Civ. A. No. 70-13.
| Decision Date | 18 March 1971 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 70-13. |
| Citation | 323 F. Supp. 898 |
| Parties | Phillip O. HUDGINS v. Charles E. HART et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana |
James A. Wood, Baton Rouge, La., for plaintiff.
William R. D'Armond, Sanders, Miller, Downing & Kean, Baton Rouge, La., for defendant Hyland Division, Travenol Laboratories, Inc.
Peter T. Dazzio, Watson, Blanche, Wilson, Posner & Thibaut, Baton Rouge, La., for defendant Charles E. Hart.
This is a suit by an inmate of Louisiana State Penitentiary who alleges violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C.A. § 201 et seq. The petitioner claims that Hyland Laboratories and Charles E. Hart hired him as an assistant medical technician and clerk in connection with their business of extracting blood plasma from the inmates of the penitentiary. He lists a number of specific duties which he claims to have performed for the defendants during a three year period, and for which he claims to have been underpaid. He prays for reparation in the sum of $17,000.00, representing the minimum wages allegedly due him for work performed during this three year period pursuant to the minimum pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and he asks for an equal amount in liquidated damages, together with costs and reasonable attorney's fee.
Both defendants have filed motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, and/or for summary judgment. Since evidence in the form of affidavits and other documentary evidence has been filed in addition to the pleadings, the Court considers the matter submitted for determination on motions for summary judgment.
The basis of the motions for summary judgment is the contention by defendants that since, as a matter of fact, there was no contractual relationship, that is, no employer-employee relationship, between plaintiff and the defendants, the plaintiff is not entitled to the protection of the Fair Labor Standards Act. We agree.
The uncontroverted affidavits and other exhibits which have been filed in the record unquestionably support the position of the defendants and conclusively show that there was no contractual agreement, oral or written, between the inmate plaintiff and either of the defendants. There was simply no employer-employee relationship between any of these parties. All contractual arrangements in this case were between the defendants, Hyland and Hart, and the Louisiana State Penitentiary, and the Louisiana Department of Corrections. The plaintiff was an inmate at the penitentiary, and as such his labor belonged to the penitentiary. It was the penitentiary...
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