Morrison v. Quality Transports Services, Inc., 05-61757-CIV.

• Decision Date: 30 January 2007
• Docket Number: No. 05-61757-CIV.,05-61757-CIV.
• Citation: 474 F.Supp.2d 1303
• Parties: Prince E. MORRISON, and others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. QUALITY TRANSPORTS SERVICES, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida

474 F.Supp.2d 1303

Prince E. MORRISON, and others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. QUALITY TRANSPORTS SERVICES, INC., Defendant.

No. 05-61757-CIV.

United States District Court, S.D. Florida.

January 30, 2007.

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Maurice Jay Baumgarten, Anania Bandklayder Blackwell & Baumgarten, Miami, FL, for Plaintiff.

Leslie W. Langbein, Langbein & Langbein, Miami Lakes, FL, for Defendant.

ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, AND DENYING, IN PART, DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

DIMITROULEAS, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Defendant Quality Transport Services's Motion for Summary Judgment [DE-55]. The Court has carefully considered the Motion, Plaintiff's Memorandum in Opposition [DE-61], Defendant's Reply [DE-66], and all exhibits, depositions and affidavits filed in support. The Court has also considered Plaintiff's Motion to Strike Declarations [DE-72], Defendant's Response [DE-71], and Plaintiff's Reply [DE-72], and is otherwise fully advised in the premises,

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Prince E. Morrison ("Morrison"), a former employee of Defendant Quality Transport Services, Inc., ("QTS"), filed this action pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. § 216, alleging that QTS failed, to pay him overtime compensation in violation of the FLSA. QTS is a private motor carrier company operating full-size motor coaches and mini-buses. Plaintiff was employed by QTS as a bus driver. Plaintiff alleges that he and other similarly situated current and former employees of QTS worked over forty hours in one or more weeks, but did not receive overtime compensation. Plaintiff seeks to recover unpaid overtime compensation, liquidated damages and attorneys' fees and costs.

On June 9, 2006, Morrison filed a motion seeking leave of this Court to notify all potential class members, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), that they have the right to opt-in the present action. Morrison defined the potential class as all similarly situated employees and former employees of QTS who are or were employed as bus drivers by QTS on or after November 10, 2002, who have been damaged as a result of QTS's failure to properly compensate employees for hours worked in excess of forty hours during any work week. On July 17, 2006, the Court entered an Order permitting Court-supervised notice to potential class members. Sixteen plaintiffs have opted in since the notification was sent to potential class members.

Defendants filed this Motion for Summary Judgment alleging that Plaintiff and opt-in Plaintiffs (collectively "Plaintiffs") are exempt from compliance with the FLSA because they qualify for the motor carrier exemption to the Act. To that end, Defendant claims that Plaintiffs are subject to the authority of the Secretary of Transportation under the Motor Carrier. Act because they have a substantial effect on interstate commerce, and therefore, Plaintiffs have no claims under the FLSA. Defendant also argues that even if Plaintiffs are not exempt from the overtime compensation requirements of the FLSA, Defendant is entitled to summary judgment on the issue of willfulness based on their reliance on Chao v. First Class Coach Co., Inc., 214 F.Supp.2d 1263 (M.D.Fla. 2001). Finally, Defendant moves to dismiss the claims of opt-in Plaintiffs O'Connell, Carter and Bent because they did not work more than forty hours in any single work week. Plaintiff responds that the Defendant does not meet the criteria of the motor carrier exemption, specifically by arguing that Plaintiffs do not engage in interstate commerce, that Defendant has not demonstrated an absence of willfulness, and that genuine issues of material fact exist which preclude the entry of summary judgment on all issues.

II. DISCUSSION

Defendant seeks summary judgment against Plaintiff and all opt-in Plaintiffs arguing that (1) Plaintiffs are exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and therefore not entitled to overtime compensation; (2) a two-year statute of limitations applies because Defendants did not act willfully; and (3) opt-in Plaintiffs O'Connell, Bent and Carter did not work over forty hours in any week and therefore are not entitled to overtime wages.

A. Summary Judgment Standard

The Court may grant summary judgment "if 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 a judgment as a matter, of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The stringent burden of establishing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact lies with the moving party. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The Court should not grant summary judgment unless it is clear that a trial is unnecessary, Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986), and any doubts in this, regard should be resolved against the moving party, Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970).

The movant "bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of [the record] which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. To discharge this burden, the movant must point out to the Court that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case. Id. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

After the movant has met its burden under Rule 56(c), the burden of production shifts and the nonmoving party "must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). According to the plain language of Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(e), the non-moving party "may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the adverse party's pleadings," but instead must come forward with "specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e); Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348.

Essentially, so long as the non-moving party has had an ample opportunity to conduct discovery, it must come forward with affirmative evidence to support its claim. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 257, 106 S.Ct. 2505. "A mere `scintilla' of evidence supporting the opposing party's position will not suffice; there must be a sufficient showing that the jury could reasonably find for that party." Walker v. Darby, 911 F.2d 1573, 1577 (11th Cir.1990). If the evidence advanced by the non-moving party "is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative, then summary judgment may be granted." Anderson, 477 U.S. 242, 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202.

B. FLSA Exemption

The FLSA requires that an employer compensate employees for hours worked in excess of forty per week "at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed." 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1). QTS contends that Plaintiffs are not entitled to overtime compensation because the FLSA exempts them from those provisions under the Motor Carrier Exemption. See 29 U.S.C. § 213(b)(1). The question of how Plaintiff spent his time is a question of fact, while whether those particular activities exclude him from the overtime benefits of the FLSA is a question of law. Icicle Seafoods, Inc. v. Worthington, 475 U.S. 709, 714, 106 S.Ct. 1527, 89 L.Ed.2d 739 (1986).

An employer relying on an exemption to the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the FLSA has the burden of proving the applicability of that exemption. Klinedinst v. Swift Inv., Inc., 260 F.3d 1251, 1254 (11th Cir.2001). Given the remedial purpose of the FLSA, the exemptions from the FLSA's coverage must be narrowly construed against the employers seeking to assert them. Arnold v. Ben Kanowsky, Inc., 361 U.S. 388, 392, 80 S.Ct. 453, 4 L.Ed.2d 393 (1960); see also Klinedinst, 260 F.3d at 1254. An employer seeking to assert an FLSA exemption has the burden of proving that the employee falls "plainly and unmistakably within the terms and spirit" of the exemption. Nicholson v. World Bus. Network, Inc., 105 F.3d 1361, 1364 (11th Cir.1997) (quoting A.H. Phillips, Inc. v. Walling, 324 U.S. 490, 493, 65 S.Ct. 807, 89 L.Ed. 1095 (1945)). Thus QTS has the burden of proving that Plaintiffs fall plainly with the terms and spirit of the Motor Carrier Exemption.

Section 213(b)(1) of the FLSA provides that the provisions of § 207 shall not apply to "any employee with respect to whom the Secretary of Transportation has power to establish qualifications and maximum hours of service pursuant to the provisions of [49 U.S.C. § 31,502]." 29 U.S.C. § 213(b)(1).¹ Accordingly, the Motor Carrier Act grants authority to the Secretary of Transportation to regulate the maximum hours of service of employees who are: (1) employed by a carrier whose transportation of property or passengers is subject to the Secretary's jurisdiction under the Motor Carrier Act; and (2) engaged in activities that directly affect the safety of operation of motor vehicles in interstate or foreign commerce. 29 C.F.R. § 782.2(a); see Baez v. Wells Fargo Armored Serv. Corp., 938 F.2d 180, 181-82 (11th Cir.1991); Hutson v. Rent-A-Center, Inc., 209 F.Supp.2d 1353, 1356 (M.D.Ga. 2001).²

1. Carrier subject to Secretary of Transportation's jurisdiction

As to prong one, Defendant argues that it is a carrier whose transportation of property or passengers is subject to the Secretary's jurisdiction under the Motor Carrier Act based on the following: 1) QTS holds a USDOT license, Def.'s Mot., Tab A; 2) QTS operates vehicles whose weight and/or passenger capacity falls within the authority of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Def.'s Mot., Tab B, and 3) QTS was subject to regulation by the FMCSA including...