Martin v. Indiana Michigan Power Co.

• Decision Date: 23 August 2004
• Docket Number: No. 02-2343.,02-2343.
• Citation: 381 F.3d 574
• Parties: Anthony MARTIN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. INDIANA MICHIGAN POWER COMPANY, d/b/a American Electric Power, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

381 F.3d 574

Anthony MARTIN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. INDIANA MICHIGAN POWER COMPANY, d/b/a American Electric Power, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 02-2343.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued March 17, 2004.

Decided and Filed August 23, 2004.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Wendell A. Miles, J.

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Stephen D. Turner (argued and briefed), Gregory N. Longworth (briefed), Law, Weathers & Richardson, Grand Rapids, MI, for Appellant.

Joseph J. Vogan (argued and briefed), Peter A. Smit (briefed), Varnum, Riddering, Schmidt & Howlett, Grand Rapids, MI, for Appellee.

Before NORRIS and COLE, Circuit Judges; ECONOMUS, District Judge.^*

NORRIS, Circuit Judge (pp. 586-87), delivered a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.

OPINION

COLE, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant Anthony Martin claims that his employer, Indiana Michigan Power Company, d/b/a American Electric Power ("AEP"), violated the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-19, by failing to pay him time-and-a-half for hours worked in a given week in excess of forty hours. AEP counters that Martin is a bona fide administrative or professional employee, exempt from the FLSA's overtime requirements. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment, and the district court granted summary judgment for AEP, holding that Martin was exempt from overtime pay requirements because he was both an administrative employee and a computer professional. For the reasons below, we REVERSE the judgment of the district court and REMAND for entry of summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff, and for calculation of damages, including liquidated damages.

I. BACKGROUND

Prior to AEP's reorganization of its Information Technology ("IT") department, Martin held the position of "Computer Security/Standards Technician," which AEP classified as nonexempt. On November 1, 1998, when the department was reorganized, Martin's title was changed to "IT Support Specialist," which AEP classified as an exempt position. According to AEP, the purpose of the reorganization was to "push down responsibilities to workers," "to delegate more authority," and to "flatten the organization."

Mike Thornburg, Martin's supervisor, describes the function of his IT Support team as follows: "Maintaining the computer workstation software, troubleshooting and repairing, network documentation, that is our primary job. We were a maintenance organization that takes care of computer systems." The computers that Martin works on are workstations (or "PCs") at individual desks connected to a local area network ("LAN"); Martin does not work on the plant process computer— "which deals with the plant, what's going on as far as the reactor operators"—which is a different system.

When people at the plant have problems with their computers, they call the help desk where the help desk employees put the problems into a database as "help desk tickets," which Martin prints out. Martin responds to these help desk tickets. He goes to the location indicated where he attempts to determine the nature of the problem, to "troubleshoot" it to determine how to proceed, and to repair the problem if possible. Martin installs software, such as Microsoft's Office 97, on individual workstations. He troubleshoots Windows 95 problems and installs provided software patches.

If Martin cannot fix a problem, he will report the problem and how he tried to fix it to Thornburg. Thornburg will decide whether to request service from the manufacturer or order a replacement part or unit. Martin, however, does not decide or make recommendations as to whether a piece of equipment must be serviced or replaced. Nor has he written reports on his troubleshooting or repair activities. He has not recommended the purchase of any equipment, hardware, or software, although Thornburg considers Martin's comments on printers and problems "valuable" in his own decision making process.

In addition to processing help desk tickets, Thornburg has directed Martin to complete a variety of other tasks. First, for a period of time while the nuclear reactors were shut down between November 1998 and May 2000, Martin relocated workstations to trailers and temporary buildings. Sometime in 2000, Cook brought in contractors to move workstations. Thornburg testified that, prior to that, everyone in IT Support—including Thornburg and Martin—was spending so much time moving workstations that they were not able to carry out their primary job as a maintenance organization.

Second, Martin was assigned to install hardware and cable for the network, including network components such as hubs, switches, and routers, when Cook was physically expanding the LAN to trailers and new buildings. Martin worked in the wiring closets: terminating the cables (that is, putting connectors on the ends of the cables), plugging them into the hubs, and verifying that they were connected by phoning the system administrator to confirm that the hubs had appeared on the network. Martin was not involved in designing the configuration of either the cables or the hardware he installed, nor does he install any programs onto the network. Third, on January 2, 2001, Thornburg assigned Martin to clean up the wiring closets, to make sure the master network diagram accurately reflected what was physically in the closets and update it if necessary, and to get the locks changed, if possible, so that one key would open all the closets.

Shortly before Thornburg's February 28, 2001, deposition, Martin received another assignment. According to Thornburg, he assigned Martin "to review a Windows 2000 operating system that we have just developed." At the time of the deposition, Thornburg explained that Martin was in the "process" of "preparing" to do the review. For the assignment, Martin was supposed to "review the desktop operating system in our applications to make sure they work as he uses them in the field. And if not, I expect him to make recommendations for corrections." This assignment—apparently made after the litigation commenced—is the first of this type for Martin. As Thornburg put it, Martin's duties were "evolving."

Martin has no computer certifications and no degree beyond high school. He has taken one course in microcomputing, a class in using Windows 2000, and four, week-long hands-on computer training classes. Martin has a work bench located in a common work area—also referred to as a "workshop" in the depositions. Martin does not have his own phone line; everyone in the area shares a "shop phone." He wears a blue short-sleeved work shirt with two pockets on the front, a name badge that says "Tony," and a badge that says "D.C. Cook, CSS Section"; blue work pants; and work boots.

II. ANALYSIS

This Court reviews de novo a district court's grant of summary judgment. Stephenson v. Allstate Ins. Co., 328 F.3d 822, 826 (6th Cir.2003). Summary judgment is appropriate if, after examining the record and drawing all inferences in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. FED.R.CIV.P. 56(c); Agristor Fin. Corp. v. Van Sickle, 967 F.2d 233, 236 (6th Cir.1992).

The FLSA requires employers to pay their employees time-and-a-half for work performed in excess of forty hours per week, 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1), but exempts employers from this requirement with respect to individuals "employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity." 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1). To avoid paying overtime to Martin, AEP must prove that he falls within one of these exempt categories. AEP argues that Martin is exempt as both an "administrative" employee and a "computer professional," which is a subclass of "professional" employees.

The exemptions to the FLSA's overtime provisions are "to be `narrowly construed against the employers seeking to assert [them],'" Douglas v. Argo-Tech Corp., 113 F.3d 67, 70 (6th Cir.1997) (quoting Arnold v. Ben Kanowsky, Inc., 361 U.S. 388, 392, 80 S.Ct. 453, 4 L.Ed.2d 393 (1960)), and the employer bears not only the burden of proof, but also the burden on each element of the claimed exemption. Id. Because the burden of proof is shifted, Martin is entitled to summary judgment unless the defendant can come forward with evidence at least creating a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Martin meets each and every element of the exemption. If AEP fails to proffer such evidence, not only must its motion for summary judgment be denied, but summary judgment for Martin must be granted. See Schaefer v. Ind. Mich. Power Co., 358 F.3d 394, 407 (6th Cir.2004) (Suhrheinrich, J. concurring) (asserting that Schaefer was entitled to summary judgment because "[i]n my view, AEP has, at a minimum, failed to create a genuine issue of fact on the question of whether Schaefer's primary duty `includes work requiring exercise of discretion and independent judgment.'").¹

For purposes of this analysis, we view the facts in the light most favorable to AEP. The facts regarding Martin's workplace tasks are largely undisputed. The parties do disagree, however, about how much time Martin spends on hardware versus software tasks and how much time Martin spent moving work stations with or without the help of contractors. These disputes, however, are ultimately irrelevant because neither Martin's hardware nor software work exempts him, and, regardless of how much time Martin spent moving computers, his others tasks are no more exempt.

A. Computer Professional Exemption

To establish that Martin is a "computer professional" under the regulations and therefore not entitled to overtime, AEP must demonstrate that (1) the employee "is compensated on a salary or fee basis at a rate of not less than $250 per week" or that the employee "is compensated on an hourly basis at a rate in...