Powell v. Carey Intern., Inc., 0521395CIV.
| Decision Date | 01 March 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 0521395CIV.,0521395CIV. |
| Citation | 483 F.Supp.2d 1168 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida |
| Parties | George POWELL, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CAREY INTERNATIONAL, INC., et al., Defendants. |
Chris Kleppin, Harry O. Boreth, Glasser Boreth Ceasar & Kleppin, Plantation, FL, for Plaintiffs.
Kristy Marie Johnson, Carlton Fields, Miami, FL, Patricia Halvorson Thompson, Carlton Fields, Miami, FL, for Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS' PARTIAL MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AS TO THE INAPPLICABILITY OF THE TAXICAB AND MOTOR CARRIER EXEMPTIONS, DENYING ALL OF PLAINTIFFS' REMAINING CLAIMS, AND GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN FAVOR OF DEFENDANT VINCE WOLFINGTON
THIS MATTER is before the Court on Plaintiffs' Motion For Partial Summary Judgment On All Issues Other Than Issues Related To The Calculation of Damages ("Plaintiffs' SJ Motion") [DE 241]. In a previous Order [DE 322], the Court briefly addressed two of the issues raised in Plaintiffs' SJ Motion.1 This Order discusses these two issues, namely, (1) the statute of limitations and (2) liquidated damages, in more depth and also addresses Plaintiffs' remaining five requests for judgment as a matter of law as to (3) Defendants' contractual defenses and counterclaims, (4) the inapplicability of the taxicab exemption, (5) the inapplicability of the motor carrier exemption, (6) Defendants' liability for unpaid overtime wages, and (7) the liability of Carey International, Inc. as a joint employer and Vince Wolfington as an employer because of his alleged operational control as a corporate officer. Defendants oppose the motion arguing that Plaintiffs have not met the required burden on a motion for summary judgment in any of these categories. Having reviewed the motion, the response and the reply thereto, the entire factual record, and all legal authorities, Plaintiffs' motion is granted only as to the inapplicability of the taxicab and motor carrier exemptions and denied as to the remaining issues. Furthermore, because Plaintiffs have adduced no evidence as to Vince Wolfington's operational control over Carey South Florida, summary judgment is granted in his favor on all claims against him.
Plaintiffs, 15 limousine drivers, seek overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., from three Defendants, who were involved in the limousine transport business at the time relevant to this lawsuit.2 Defendant Carey International, Inc. ("Carey International") owns a number of subsidiary corporations that engage in limousine services. Two of Carey International's subsidiaries are Defendant Carey Limousine Florida, Inc. ("Carey South Florida") and Manhattan International Limousine Network, Ltd. ("Manhattan"). (Affidavit of Robert Michael Sobol, December 1, 2006 ("Sobol Decl. 1") ¶ 2; Martinez Decl., July 5, 2005 ("Martinez Decl.") ¶ 5.) Defendant Vince Wolfington is the former Chief Executive Officer of Carey International. Throughout this Order, the term "Defendants" shall collectively refer to Carey International, Carey South Florida and Wolfington. Also, for purposes of this action, Defendants do not contest that Defendants Carey International and Carey South Florida are joint employers of Plaintiffs. (Defendants' Response at 25.)
Plaintiffs filed two motions for summary judgment. The first motion related to the calculation of damages to which the Defendants filed a cross-motion. The Court ruled on that motion on February 1, 2007. (See DE 321.) With regard to the second motion, the following undisputed facts are relevant to Plaintiffs' seven issues described above.
As part of their chauffeured transportation business, Defendants provided transportation in sedans, limousines, vans and buses. (Sobol Depo., Dec. 12, 2005 ("Sobol Depo.") at 31, 51.) Defendants advertised their business as providing "Limousine Services," and none of the vehicles had taximeters or vacancy signs. (Id. at 31-32, 64-65; Sobol Decl., July 5, 2005 ("Sobol Decl. 2") ¶ 12.) Carey drivers all wore prescribed uniforms and picked up prearranged passengers; they did not cruise for or pick up passengers who hailed them on the streets. (Id. ¶ 6; Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment on the Issue of Damages at 17.)
As part of its business plan, Carey South Florida had a relationship with Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. ("Virgin Atlantic"). The parties debate the nature of the relationship. Plaintiffs claim that Virgin Atlantic had a contractual relationship with Manhattan and that Carey South Florida would solely provide services on behalf of Manhattan when Virgin Atlantic upper class clientele would visit Miami. (See Plaintiffs' SJ Motion at 18.) In support of this assertion, Plaintiffs submitted the testimony of Ed Martinez, who was the Regional Vice President of Operation for both Manhattan and Carey Limousine New York, Inc. (Martinez Decl. ¶¶ 1-11.) Martinez testified that Virgin Atlantic contracted with Manhattan to provide chauffeured transportation services for upper class passengers to and from John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. (Id. ¶ 6.) He further stated that Manhattan had computer software that was linked to Virgin Atlantic's computer system to facilitate passenger pick ups. (Id. ¶ 6.) With regard to their relationship with Carey South Florida, Martinez indicated that Manhattan negotiated with Virgin Atlantic to extend their services to Miami using Carey South Florida. (Id. ¶ 10.) Martinez further stated that this was effectuated by Manhattan faxing to Carey South Florida flight information for Virgin Atlantic upper class passengers arriving or departing from Miami the following day. (Id. ¶ 10.) Carey South Florida would then contact Manhattan with a confirmation number for the job and then again when the job was completed. (Id.) Finally, Manhattan would forward the entire payment collected from Virgin Atlantic to Carey South Florida. (Id.)
Defendants claim that Carey South Florida had its own contract with Virgin Atlantic and that the relationship with Manhattan and Virgin Atlantic was akin to a three-party contract. (Defendants' Response to Plaintiffs' SJ Motion ("Defendants' Response") at 23.) In support of this proposition, Defendants submit the testimony of Carey International Chief Executive Officer Devon J. Murphy. Murphy testified that in 1998, Carey International acquired American V.I.P. Limousine ("American VIP"), a Miami-based company. (Murphy Depo. ("Murphy Depo."), Dec. 14, 2005 at 88.) As part of its due diligence in the acquisition of American VIP, Carey International received a schedule summarizing the terms of an oral agreement between Virgin Atlantic and American VIP. (Id. at 87-88.) American VIP had been servicing Virgin Atlantic for 11 years, and when Carey International purchased American VIP, it acquired American VIP's contractual agreements and method of operation with Virgin Atlantic, and merged American VIP's operations with Carey South Florida. (Id. at 90, 92.) Thereafter, Carey South Florida continued to provide services to Virgin Atlantic pursuant to the oral agreement. (Id. at 92.) Because Carey South Florida (through the American VIP acquisition) had an existing relationship with Virgin Atlantic, Manhattan offered to "tuck" the old contract between Carey South Florida and Virgin Atlantic into a new agreement and provide additional services and new rates for Virgin Atlantic in Miami. (Id. at 30, 36, 38, 107-09.)
Additionally, Carey South Florida had arrangements with private carriers or destination management companies such as Sentient Jet, Charter Auction and others whereby passengers arrange flights with these private carriers and the carriers arrange ground transportation at the various airports through Carey South Florida. (Id. at 110-117) Defendants did not provide written documents detailing these arrangements and have not explained with specificity how the arrangements resulted in the transportation of passengers traveling interstate or internationally, much less a through-ticket arrangement. (Id.)
A party seeking summary judgment must demonstrate 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); see also Maniccia v. Brown, 171 F.3d 1364, 1367 (11th Cir.1999). The movant bears the initial responsibility of informing the court of the basis for its motion and of identifying those materials which demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).
In response to a properly supported motion for summary judgment, "the adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the adverse party's pleadings, but ... must set forth specific facts which show a genuine issue for trial." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). If the non-moving party fails to "make a sufficient showing on an essential element of her case with respect to which she has the burden of proof," then the court must enter summary judgment for the moving party. Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The court, however, must view the evidence and factual inferences reasonably drawn from the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Maniccia, 171 F.3d at 1367.
"By its very terms, this standard provides that the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A court is not to resolve factual issues, but may only determine whether factual issues exist. A material fact is one which "might affect the...
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