Marshall v. Baptist Hospital, Inc.

• Citation: 473 F. Supp. 465
• Decision Date: 25 April 1979
• Docket Number: No. 75-367-NA-CV.,75-367-NA-CV.
• Parties: Ray MARSHALL, Secretary of Labor v. BAPTIST HOSPITAL, INC.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Tennessee

473 F. Supp. 465

Ray MARSHALL, Secretary of Labor v. BAPTIST HOSPITAL, INC.

No. 75-367-NA-CV.

United States District Court, M. D. Tennessee, Nashville Division.

April 25, 1979.

Marvin M. Tincher, Regional Atty., Ralph D. York, Trial Atty., and Robert C. Haynes, U.S. Dept. of Labor, Nashville, Tenn., for plaintiff.

John R. Trapnell, Atlanta, Ga., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM

MORTON, Chief Judge.

The Secretary of Labor brought this action under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201, et seq. (hereinafter "the Act" or "the FLSA"), alleging that defendant Baptist Hospital, Inc., violated the Act's minimum wage, overtime compensation, and recordkeeping provisions, respectively sections 6, 7, and 11(c) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 206, 207, and 211(c). Plaintiff seeks back wages on behalf of trainees in radiologic technology for hours worked at the hospital from October 21, 1972, three years preceding the filing of this suit, to the present. The Secretary also asks that defendant be enjoined from further violations of the Act. This court has jurisdiction under section 17 of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 217.

Defendant, Baptist Hospital, Inc., is a Tennessee corporation with its principal place of business at 2000 Church Street, Nashville, Tennessee, where it is engaged in the operation of a 600-bed general short-stay hospital. The hospital has numerous departments, including a Department of Radiology.

In 1967 the FLSA was amended to extend its applicability to a variety of types of institutions, including hospitals.¹ Baptist Hospital has been aware of the applicability of the Act and its monetary and recordkeeping provisions since that time.²

The business activities of the defendant were and are for a common business purpose. The hospital is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce within the meaning of section 3(s) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 203(s), having employees engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, including employees handling, selling or otherwise working on goods that have been moved in or produced for commerce.

I. ISSUES PRESENTED

The Secretary, through his authorized representatives in the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor, contends that an employer—employee relationship existed between Baptist Hospital and trainees in radiologic technology who were engaged in "practicum" or "clinical" training in the hospital's Department of Radiology. Trainees worked at the hospital as part of a two-year program that was originally sponsored and administered by Vanderbilt University Hospital but that was taken over by Aquinas Junior College in September of 1974. Baptist Hospital was one of several hospitals in the Nashville, Tennessee, area participating in the program by providing practicum training both before and after the change in sponsorship. The program included classroom study as well as clinical work, but the classes were held at Vanderbilt or Aquinas, and the Secretary does not seek back wages for the hours spent in class.

The threshold and predominant issue presented by this case is, of course, whether the relationship between the hospital and the trainees was a relationship of employment within the meaning of the Act. For the reasons set out in part II herein, the court finds that such a relationship did exist. This conclusion raises the additional issue of whether the hospital is entitled to the protection against liability afforded employers by the Portal to Portal Act of 1947, 29 U.S.C. §§ 251-262. Section 10 of this Act, 29 U.S.C. § 259, bars the punishment or liability of employers whose violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act were committed in good faith and in reliance upon and conformity with certain types of administrative pronouncements. Inasmuch as the court finds against defendant on this question, as discussed in part III, infra, still a third issue is presented: whether the applicable period under the statute of limitations, section 6 of the Portal to Portal Act, 29 U.S.C. § 255, is the normal two years or the three year period provided for "willful" violations. This matter too is decided against the hospital, for reasons set out in part IV of the opinion.

II. EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP

A. Legal Principles

The definition of "employee" provided in the Act is virtually circular: "the term `employee' means any individual employed by an employer." 29 U.S.C. § 203(e)(1). Other definitions are only slightly more helpful, the Act stating that "`Employer' includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee . . .," 29 U.S.C. § 203(d), and that "`employ' includes to suffer or permit to work." 29 U.S.C. § 203(g). This vagueness was not inadvertent, however, but was intended to divest the terms of conventional limitations and technical concepts in order to insure broad and "commonsensical" application of the Act's protections. See, e. g., NLRB v. Hearst Publications, Inc., 322 U.S. 111, 129, 64 S.Ct. 851, 88 L.Ed. 1170 (1944); Powell v. United States Cartridge Co., 339 U.S. 497, 523, 70 S.Ct. 755, 94 L.Ed. 1017 (1950). In the Hearst case the Court specifically rejected the argument that the broad language of the Act's definitions reflected a congressional intent to import common law principles, holding instead that Congress meant for "doubtful situations" to be determined by "underlying economic facts." NLRB v. Hearst Publications, Inc., supra, 322 U.S. at 129, 64 S.Ct. 851. The Court reiterated and amplified this position in a string of subsequent cases:

Our decisions have made one thing clear about the Fair Labor Standards Act: its applicability is not fixed by labels that parties may attach to their relationship nor by common law categories nor by classifications under other statutes. Rutherford Food Corp. v. McComb, 331 U.S. 722, 67 S.Ct. 1473, 91 L.Ed. 1772; Walling v. Portland Terminal Co., 330 U.S. 148, 150, 67 S.Ct. 639, 91 L.Ed. 809; other citations omitted.

Powell v. United States Cartridge Co., supra, 339 U.S. at 528, 70 S.Ct. at 771. The "economic reality test," as it came to be known, requires a court to examine the "circumstances of the whole activity" rather than "isolated factors." Rutherford Food Corp. v. McComb, 331 U.S. 722, 730, 67 S.Ct. 1437, 91 L.Ed. 1772 (1947), and this is true regardless of whether the persons alleged to be "employees" might otherwise (or also) be labeled "independent contractors" as in Rutherford Foods, supra; Mednick v. Albert Enterprises, Inc., 508 F.2d 297 (5th Cir. 1975); "member of a cooperative" as in Goldberg v. Whitaker House Cooperative, Inc., 366 U.S. 28, 81 S.Ct. 933, 6 L.Ed.2d 100 (1961); "prisoners" as in Sims v. Parke-Davis Co., 334 F.Supp. 774 (E.D. Mich.1971); "conscientious objectors" as in Isaacson v. Penn Community Services, Inc., 450 F.2d 1306 (4th Cir. 1971); "patients" as in Souder v. Brennan, 367 F.Supp. 808 (D.D. C.1973); "apprentices" as in Ballou v. General Electric Co., 433 F.2d 109 (1st Cir. 1970), and Bailey v. Pilots' Association, 406 F.Supp. 1302 (E.D.Pa.1976); or "trainees" as in Ballou, supra, Wirtz v. Wardlaw, 339 F.2d 785 (4th Cir. 1964), and the instant case. As with any meaningful test, outcomes have varied under the "economic reality" standard. The results were positive for an employment relationship in Rutherford Foods, Mednick, Goldberg, Souder, Bailey, and Wirtz, but negative in Sims, Isaacson, and Ballou. In none, however, did the label control;³ rather the courts considered the facts of each situation in specific detail before reaching a conclusion, a process this court must likewise employ.

The "evils" the Act was designed to prevent, and which furnish the perspective from which the facts must be examined, are the displacement of regular employees or applicants and the exploitation of unorganized laborers. See Isaacson, supra, at 1310.

In examining a training or learning situation for possible signs of these "evils," it is relevant to assess the validity of the program as an educational experience. It is also important in such cases to determine whether the primary benefit from the relationship flows to the learner or to the alleged employer.⁴

Perhaps the best expression of the latter factor is Bailey v. Pilots' Association, supra, where the court found that the defendant had "derived the primary, immediate and substantial benefit from the Plaintiff's work" even though the plaintiff, an apprentice, had received "some educational benefit," including the fulfillment of a licensing requirement. 406 F.Supp. at 1305 (emphasis added).⁵ The allocation of primary benefit is pertinent even where the alleged employer is a nonprofit corporation, as in the instant case.⁶

B. Facts and Conclusions

1. The Program

Beginning in the late 1930's, Vanderbilt Hospital of Nashville conducted a program for the training of X-ray technologists in its own X-ray department. In 1968 the decision was made to expand the program by involving other hospitals. A meeting was held with representatives of a number of hospitals present, including defendant Baptist Hospital. Defendant, which prior to that time had conducted its own program for the training of X-ray technologists, agreed to participate in the program.

Under the program as expanded in 1968, all classroom activity was conducted at Vanderbilt University Hospital with practicum training being conducted at each of the participating hospitals' X-ray departments. The program director was James W. Hamlin, and the assistant director was Dianne A. George. Hamlin and George were primarily responsible for coordinating the activities of the trainees both in their classroom and in their practicum activities.

Persons were selected to enter the two-year program upon application to Vanderbilt University Hospital. A new class was enrolled annually, with training beginning in July of each year. After selection, each person was immediately assigned to one...