McLaughlin v. McGee Bros. Co., Inc.
| Decision Date | 11 March 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. C-C-86-173-P,C-C-87-420-P.,C-C-86-173-P |
| Citation | 681 F. Supp. 1117 |
| Parties | Ann McLAUGHLIN, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor, Plaintiff, v. McGEE BROTHERS COMPANY, INC., Sam McGee, Bill McGee, Don McGee, Michael McGee, and Cletus Huntley, Defendants. Ann McLAUGHLIN, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor, Plaintiff, v. WENDELL'S WOODWORK, INC., Wendell Long, Herbert Long, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of North Carolina |
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Patricia J. Craft, Bobbye D. Spears, Regional Sol., U.S. Dept. of Labor, Atlanta, Ga., for plaintiff.
Sam McGee, McGee Bros. Co., Inc., pro se.
W. James Chandler, for defendants.
Thomas A. McNeely, Charlotte, N.C., for defendants in No. C-C-87-420-P.
THIS MATTER was tried to the Court on January 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23, 1988 at Charlotte, North Carolina. Plaintiff was represented by Patricia J. Craft and Robert L. Walter, Attorneys at Law. Defendants were represented by W. James Chandler, Jr. and Thomas A. McNeely, Attorneys at Law.
The matter was before the Court on Plaintiff's Complaint, as amended, asking for an injunction enjoining Defendants, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and all other persons in concert or participation with them in C-C-86-173-P, from violating the provisions of Sections 6, 7, 11(c), 12(c), 15(a)(2), 15(a)(4), and 15(a)(5) of the Act and restraining the withholding of payment of backwages found by the Court to be due employees under this Act, for a period of three years prior to the commencement of this action in accordance with Section 17 of the Act (29 U.S.C. § 217) plus interest at 12% per annum, and the costs of this action.
In File No. C-C-87-420-P, Plaintiff prayed for an injunction permanently enjoining Defendants, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and all other persons in active concert or participation with them from violating the provisions of Sections 12 and 15(a)(1) of this Act, and on Plaintiff's petition for adjudication of civil contempt by Defendants of the Court's Preliminary Injunction filed October 5, 1987 and to enlarge the aforesaid injunction to include under its prohibitions and to further enjoin Defendants from violating Section 12(a) of the Act (29 U.S.C. § 212(a)) which prohibits the shipment or delivery for shipment in commerce of any goods produced in violation of Section 12(c) of the Act.
(1) Wendell's Woodwork, Inc. (hereinafter "Wendell's") is a for profit North Carolina corporation, with its principal office in the Western District of North Carolina, Charlotte Division.
(2) Majority ownership and control of the corporation is vested in the respondents Wendell Long and his father W. Herbert Long.
(3) Herbert Long and Wendell Long as officers of the Company make decisions as to what work is to be performed by the employees of the Company, and otherwise oversee and control the daily operations of the Company.
(4) Since at least September 1984 and up until at least October 5, 1987 minors under the age of sixteen years and sixteen to eighteen years of age have worked for Defendants.
(5) Wendell's gross income since 1984 is approximately as follows:
1984 — $300,000
1985 — $400,000
1986 — $640,000
1987 — over $1,000,000
(6) Wendell's is engaged in manufacture of wood products such as industrial stakes used in the construction industry, repairs wood pallets, manufactures wedging material used by the mobile home industry and repairs and sells woodworking equipment, power saws, and tools.
(7) The respondents have shipped outside the State of North Carolina or delivered for shipment outside the State the products manufactured in their establishment on which the minors performed labor within 30 days of the removal of such products.
(8) Plaintiff's Exhibits 1-A through 1-I are "Vocational Training Agreements" involving minors from 11 to 16 years of age which purport to enroll the "child" as denominated in the agreement, in the Shiloh True Light Church of Christ (hereinafter "Church") Vocational Program wherein the Parent releases the Company from any damages resulting from injuries sustained by the child "... while in the aforementioned program or employment of Company ..." These agreements were executed by the Parent, the child, Wendell's and the Church in 1985 and 1986. These Agreements apparently are no longer in effect.
(9) From September of 1984 until October 5, 1987, minors under the age of 18 years have operated power driven woodworking machinery, power driven circular saws, hand saws and forklifts under the supervision of Wendell Long, at both the Happy Hollow and Blair Road facilities of Wendell's.
(10) Both Wendell Long and Herbert Long determined the hourly rate of pay and the bonus for both adult and minor employees of Wendell's from September 1984 until at least October 5, 1987.
(11) On October 5, 1987 this Court entered a Preliminary Injunction enjoining Wendell's, its officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and all persons in active concert or participation with them from violating 29 U.S.C. § 212(c) and 29 U.S.C. § 215(a)(4) from employing, suffering or permitting minors to work in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce within the meaning of the Act, under conditions constituting oppressive child labor as defined in 29 U.S.C. § 203(l) and the regulations thereunder.
Defendant Wendell and the individual Defendants were represented by counsel at the October 5, 1987 hearing on Plaintiff's Motion for a Preliminary Injunction.
(12) By a document dated October 10, 1987, (Plaintiff's Exhibit 11) Wendell's and the Church entered into a "Lease and Licensing Agreement" for certain equipment to the Church and for real property at 7721 Happy Hollow Road which is owned by William Herbert Long and Peggy Watson Long, at a rental of $1500.00 per month. The lease price was determined by Herbert Long and Wendell Long and presented to Brother Rommie Purser, Church Elder.
(13) After October 5, 1987, the individual Defendants continued to own and operate the corporate Defendant engaging in the woodworking industry, including the manufacturing of wood products and the repair and sale of woodworking equipment, power saws and tools.
(14) After August, 1986, the payroll for the minors was changed so that the "trainees" who worked on products manufactured by Wendell's received their wages from the Church.
(15) The Church invoiced Wendell's for the labor performed by the minors and for the materials furnished. (Plaintiff's Exhibit 12, pages 1-38). As Wendell Long testified in his deposition of October 27, 1987 Wendell's "... purchased labor from Shiloh Vocational ..." (Depo. p. 67).
(16) The individual Defendants understood the Order of this Court filed October 5, 1987.
(17) Two of the minors who worked on Wendell's products, Patrick Ferguson and Michael Smith are not members of the Church.
(18) The products worked on by the minors at Wendell's continued to be shipped out of North Carolina.
(19) Since October 5, 1987 the individual Defendant officers of Wendell's continued to possess and exercise independent authority to oversee and control the daily operations of the business including operational control of every aspect of the minors' work. The minors performed the same tasks and work as they did before October 5, 1987, i.e., repairing power driven equipment, manufacturing stakes, operating power driven equipment, and driving forklifts.
(20) After October 5, 1987, Herbert Long took the responsibility for assigning and directly supervising the manufacturing work of the minors on a daily basis and recording their hours worked and their production.
(21) After October 5, 1987, the workload of the minors continued to be determined by Wendell Long and Herbert Long according to the daily production needs of Wendell's.
(22) After October 5, 1987, Wendell's adult employees continued to be paid for the hours they spent supervising the minors.
(23) The minors work four hours a day, five days a week when school is in session and 8 hours a day five days a week when school is not in session, plus some overtime hours.
(24) Prior to and since October 5, 1987, production bonuses have been paid to minors based on a quota.
(25) Prior to October 5, 1987, the minors worked at Wendell's locations on Blair Road and Happy Hollow Road. After October 5, 1987, the minors worked only at the Happy Hollow Road location.
(26) All material which was processed by the minors came from Wendell's inventory, and was brought in by Wendell's truck. After the minors' "rough mill" work was completed at Happy Hollow, the processed goods were shipped by Wendell's truck to Blair Road for the ripping process and then back to Happy Hollow Road for pointing and packaging. The Church has no investment in the equipment used by the minors.
(27) Wendell's trucks are operated by both adult employees and by the minors.
(28) The common form of discipline of the minor "trainee" is to lay them off the job. This was done by officers of Wendell's.
(29) Wendell's benefited from the minors' work.
(30) The price for the labor on Wendell's products by the "trainees" was determined by Defendants Herbert Long and Wendell Long based on what Wendell's could afford to pay the Church Vocational Program for work done by the minors for Wendell's.
(31) Work was not subcontracted to the Church before October 5, 1987, but the same work was subcontracted to the Church after October 5, 1987.
(32) Janice Long did the payroll accounting for Wendell's on a computer located at Wendell's. She calculated the bonuses for employees on a form prepared by ...
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