Reeves v. Howard County Refining Co.
| Decision Date | 07 May 1940 |
| Docket Number | No. 63.,63. |
| Parties | REEVES v. HOWARD COUNTY REFINING CO. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Texas |
Davidson & McMahon and Hudson Smart, all of Abilene, Tex., for plaintiffs.
Coffee & Coffee, of Big Spring, Tex., for defendant.
The Court understands the law to be that this Act (29 U.S.C.A. § 201 et seq.) is what the name implies, a minimum wage and hour Act, and that parties may contract with reference to hours and compensation at will, provided the compensation to be paid is not less than the scale fixed by the law. It thus becomes important for the determination of the rights of the several employees involved to arrive at the nature of the contract or agreement under which they were working, and have been working since the passage of the Act.
C. C. Reeves testified that he had for some time been working for a flat salary of $150 per month. That on one or more occasions he had acted as superintendent or assistant superintendent, but for only a very short time. That his duty was to treat the gasoline in process of distillation. That soon after the passage of this law, about the 2d of November, 1938, he had a discussion with his employers about his compensation, in which he stated that he would like to have the benefit of shorter hours provided for in the law, and his foreman told him that in the event he took shorter hours it would be necessary to make a reduction in his pay. That no further discussion took place and he continued to labor upon a flat salary of $150 per month, and that he never asked for any other compensation during the time he was so employed. Considering the number of hours actually worked, this pay exceeds the minimum time and overtime provided by the Act, and therefore complied with the Act, and the Court finds that C. C. Reeves is not entitled to recover anything from defendant, he having entered into a contract for a stipulated consideration which is in excess of the minimum wage fixed by law, and that he had a right to make such agreement, and having entered into such agreement, he is bound thereby.
J. A. Kinard was working on the wage scale of $90 per month, his principal duties being night watchman, but he frequently, for several hours, did other work in connection with the process of refining. He was to serve for 12-hour periods at a fixed salary of $90 per month. This was an unlawful contract, in that the compensation allowing for the number of hours that he worked, was less than that fixed by the minimum wage. There being, therefore, no binding contract affecting this plaintiff, he is entitled to the minimum wage, plus overtime, during the period of his employment. From October 24, 1938, to October 24, 1939, he worked regular time 2,288 hours, which at 25¢ per hour, would be $572; during same period he worked 1,980 hours of overtime, for which he is entitled to be compensated at the rate of 37½¢ per hour, which would amount to the sum of $742.50. After October 24, 1939, to December 18, 1939, the said J. A. Kinard worked 336 regular-time hours, for which he was entitled to be paid at the rate of 30¢ per hour, which amounts to the sum of $100.80, and he, during the same period, worked 276 overtime hours, for which he is entitled to be compensated at the rate of 45¢ per hour, which would amount to the sum of $124.20. The total pay to which J. A. Kinard was entitled if figured on the basis of minimum wage and overtime provided by the Act, was the sum of $1,539.50. He was paid the sum of $1,239, which leaves a difference of $300.50, plus penalty of $300.50.
Allen McClinton and Artie Fuqua each in turn operated the still for refining gasoline from the crude oil, each working on an 8-hour shift. While engaged in operating the still they were entitled to be paid upon a basis of $160 per month. At times they were not operating the still and would be engaged in firing, or yard work. During this period they were to work for 40¢ per hour. They usually worked an entire day when they started either one of these different lines of labor.
The court finds that these employees entered into a contract upon this basis and that for the days at which they worked at the still they are entitled to be paid upon a basis of $160 per month for the number of hours employed, and all the...
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