Kastor v. Sam's Wholesale Club, Civil Action No. 3:99-CV-2272-L (N.D. Tex. 1/18/2001)
| Decision Date | 18 January 2001 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 3:99-CV-2272-L. |
| Parties | WILLIAM A. KASTOR, Plaintiff, v. SAM'S WHOLESALE CLUB, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Texas |
Before the court is Defendant Sam's Wholesale Club's Motion for Summary Judgment, filed September 29, 2000. After careful consideration of the motion, Plaintiffs' response, Defendant's reply, the summary judgment record, and applicable authorities, the court, for the reasons stated herein, grants Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment.
This is an action for unpaid overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. Plaintiff William A. Kastor ("Plaintiff" or "Kastor") began working for Defendant Sam's Wholesale Club ("Defendant" or "Sam's") in 1992, after the company purchased Pace Warehouse, Plaintiffs' former employer. Sam's is a discount retail establishment. In 1993, Kastor was selected to manage the bakery department of the Sam's Wholesale Club in Addison, Texas. Kastor worked generally from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., five days a week,1 and was paid a salary of approximately $560 per week. Kastor reported to one of three assistant store managers, who in turn reported to the general manager of the store.
In addition to Kastor, the bakery department consisted of a team leader and five to eight employees. Kastor was the only salaried employee in the bakery department. As manager, Kastor was responsible for tracking the department's daily, weekly and monthly sales, tracking the gross margin of all products sold in the bakery department; using tools of the trade to increase sales through presentation; identifying sales opportunities and plans to increase sales; maintaining appropriate inventory levels for the department's sales, which consisted of ordering products and supplies for the bakery; and maintaining quality assurance, that is, ensuring that product and sanitation standards were maintained within the area. Kastor also supervised the employees in the bakery department. He directed the work of bakery employees and was responsible for making out their work schedules, conducted annual employee performance evaluations, interviewed and trained new employees, addressed employee grievances, and disciplined employees in his department, including giving verbal and written reprimands, although recommendations to terminate an employee were referred to the general manager. Kastor attended store meetings, along with other area managers, assistant managers, the general manager, and hourly-paid employees, including team leaders.
On October 5, 1999, Kastor filed this lawsuit against Sam's alleging that it required him to work more than 40 hours per week without overtime compensation in willful violation of the FLSA. Defendant now moves for summary judgment, contending that, as a former manager of the bakery department, Plaintiff was an executive and administrative employee and, therefore, exempt from receiving overtime compensation pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 213 (a)(1).
Summary judgment shall be rendered when the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. p. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-25 (1986); Ragas v. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., 136 F.3d 455, 458 (5th Cir. 1998). A dispute regarding a material fact is "genuine" if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict in favor of the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). When ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the court is required to view all inferences drawn from the factual record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio, 475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986); Ragas, 136 F.3d at 458.
Once the moving party has made an initial showing that there is no evidence to support the nonmoving party's case, the party opposing the motion must come forward with competent summary judgment evidence of the existence of a genuine fact issue. Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586. Mere conclusory allegations are not competent summary judgment evidence, and thus are insufficient to defeat a motion for summary judgment. Eason v. Thaler, 73 F.3d 1322, 1325 (5th Cir. 1996). Unsubstantiated assertions, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation are not competent summary judgment evidence. See Forsyth v. Barr, 19 F.3d 1527, 1533 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 871 (1994). The party opposing summary judgment is required to identify specific evidence in the record and to articulate the precise manner in which that evidence supports his claim. Ragas, 136 F.3d at 458. Rule 56 does not impose a duty on the court to "sift through the record in search of evidence" to support the nonmovant's opposition to the motion for summary judgment. Id., see also Skotak v. Tenneco Resins, Inc., 953 F.2d 909, 915-16 & n. 7 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 832 (1992). "Only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing laws will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248. Disputed fact issues which are "irrelevant and unnecessary" will not be considered by a court in ruling on a summary judgment motion. Id. If the nonmoving party fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to its case and on which it will bear the burden of proof at trial, summary judgment must be granted. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-23.
The FLSA requires an employer to pay overtime compensation to any employee who works more than forty hours in a regular workweek. 29 U.S.C. § 207 (a). This overtime pay requirement, however, does not apply to employees working in "a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity." 29 U.S.C. § 213 (a)(1). Sam's contends that Kastor was exempt from the overtime wage provisions of the ELSA as an executive or administrative employee. As the employer, Sam's has the burden of establishing that Kastor falls within one of these exemptions, all of which are to be narrowly construed against it. See Dalheim v. KDFW-TV, 918 F.2d 1220, 1224 (5th Cir. 1990).
The Department of Labor has set forth two different tests, a "long test" and a "short test," for determining whether an employee falls within the specified exemptions.2 The parties agree that Kastor earned more than $250 per week while employed by Sam's; therefore, the Department of Labor's "short test" applies. The "short test" for the executive exemption requires Sam's to prove 1) that Kastor was compensated on a salary basis of not less than $250 per week, 2) that Kastor was primarily responsible for the management of a customarily recognized department or subdivision thereof, and 3) that Kastor customarily and regularly directed the work of two or more other employees. 29 C.F.R. § 541.1 (f); Lott v. Howard Wilson Chiysler-Plymouth, Inc., 203 F.3d 326, 332 (5th Cir. 2000).
As stated before, there is no dispute that Kastor was a salaried employee earning more than $250 per week. Therefore, the first prong of the "short test" has been satisfied. The court now turns to the second part of the test: whether Kastor was primarily responsible for the management of a customarily recognized department or subdivision thereof.
As there is no dispute that Sam's Bakery Department is a customarily recognized department of Sam's Wholesale Club, the issue the court must decide with respect to this prong is whether Kastor's primary duty was management of that department. Defendant contends that Kastor's primary duty involved managing Sam's Bakery Department, and that he was required to perform several managerial tasks. Kastor contends that ninety percent of his time was spent in performing the exact same work as hourly employees, such as actual preparation, baking, packaging baked products, stocking baked items for sale, refilling inventory on the selling floor, getting supplies from the freezer and storage areas, sweeping and cleaning the production areas of the bakery department, and taking and preparing food orders from customers. See App. to Pl.'s Br. in Resp. to Def.'s Mot. for Summ. J., Tab 1 (Declaration of William A. Kastor, ¶ 6). The remaining ten percent, Kastor says, was spent performing managerial tasks. Id., ¶ 7-15. Kastor therefore argues that he does not meet the primary duty requirement for an executive employee because only a small portion of his time was devoted to management of the bakery. The court disagrees.
As a general rule, an employee's "primary duty" will typically involve over 50 percent of the employee's work time, see Lott, 203 F.3d at 331; however, time alone is not the sole test. 29 C.F.R. § 541.103; see also Smith v. City of Jackson, 954 F.2d 296, 299 (5th Cir. 1992); Dalheim, 918 F.2d at 1227. The Fifth Circuit has determined that an employee's "primary duty" cannot be ascertained by applying a simple "clock" standard that contrasts the amount of time each day an employee spends on exempt and nonexempt work. Dalheim, 918 F.2d at 1227. In cases where an employee spends less than 50 percent of his time in managerial duties, management may nevertheless be his primary duty if other pertinent factors support such a conclusion. Id.; 29 C.F.R. § 541.103. Therefore, flexibility is appropriate when applying this rule, and the court may consider other factors such as the relative importance of the managerial duties as compared with other duties; the frequency with which the employee exercises discretionary powers; the employee's relative freedom from supervision; and comparative wages, that is, the relationship between the...
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