Sims v. Parke Davis & Co.
| Decision Date | 05 January 1971 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 31172. |
| Citation | 334 F. Supp. 774 |
| Parties | Calvin SIMS et al., Plaintiffs, v. PARKE DAVIS & CO., a Michigan Corporation, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan |
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Robert L. Segar, Flint, Mich., for plaintiffs.
Timothy Carroll, Dykema, Gossett, Spencer, Goodnow and Trigg, Detroit, Mich., for Parke Davis & Co.
Wolfgang Hoppe, Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, Detroit, Mich., for The Upjohn Co.
Solomon Bienenfeld, Asst. Atty. Gen., Lansing, Mich., for State of Michigan.
Plaintiffs were convicted of crimes under the laws of Michigan and are serving, or have served, terms in the State Prison of Southern Michigan, at Jackson, Michigan, (hereafter referred to as Jackson Prison). Two of the defendants, Parke Davis & Company and The Upjohn Company, are private corporations engaged in the interstate manufacture of drugs. A third defendant, the Department of Corrections of the State of Michigan, has "exclusive jurisdiction over * * *: (c) penal institutions * * * prison labor and industry * * *" Mich.Com.Laws § 791.204. The defendants Eleanor Hutzel, James E. Wadsworth, Ernest C. Brooks, Max Biber, C. J. Farley, John W. Rice, Duane L. Waters, Florence Crane, Joseph J. Gross and G. Robert Cotton are, or were, members of the Michigan Corrections Commission which supervises the Department of Corrections. Mich.Com.Laws §§ 791.201-791.203. The defendant Gus Harrison is Director of the Department of Corrections. Jurisdiction is based upon Title 29 U.S.C. § 216(b); Title 28 U.S.C. §§ 1337, 1343; and Title 42 § 1983.
The background facts giving rise to the present complaint are not in dispute. In November of 1963 the Michigan Department of Corrections entered into two separate agreements with defendant Upjohn Company and defendant Parke Davis & Company. Pursuant to those agreements, each drug company was permitted to construct, at its own expense, "* * * a Clinical Research Building at the State Prison of Southern Michigan." Both buildings were subsequently completed and, under the terms of the contracts, became "the property of the State of Michigan," with the defendant drug companies retaining the right to use the buildings they constructed "for clinical research so long as clinical research is conducted by any organization or corporation at the State Prison of Southern Michigan."
The "clinical research" presently carried on in those buildings involves the testing of drugs on volunteers among the Jackson inmates. The plaintiffs, however, and the class plaintiffs seek to represent, were not used as subjects in drug experiments; instead, they performed various services in connection with the operation of the clinics. Those services were grouped together under the following job classifications:
Parke Davis & Company
Classification: Services Performed
Chief Clerk Preparation of prison details
Clerk Double check labels
Chief Cook Cooking and other kitchen duties
Head Porter Janitor and Messenger
Maintenance Man Maintenance and minor repairs
Porter and Nurse Supervisor Night Janitor and Attendant
The Upjohn Company
Classification: Services Performed
Chief Technician Performs specific tasks such as
operation of EEG machine
Technician Same as above
Technician Trainee Same as above
Chief Clerk Clerical tasks
Clerk Clerical tasks
Nurse Supervisor Acts as nurse in connection with
clinical tests
Nurse Same as above
Chief Cook Cooks and serves food
Cook Same as above
Kitchen Assists in kitchen
Kitchen Pot and Pan Assists in kitchen
Maintenance Man Maintenance and minor repairs
Head Porter Janitorial tasks
Porter Janitorial tasks
Plaintiffs allege that they, as well as other Jackson inmates, were forced by "defendants Parke Davis & Company and The Upjohn Company in conjunction with representatives of the Michigan Department of Corrections" to work in those classifications "on a regular basis up to as much as one hundred twelve (112) hours per week" at wages ranging "from Thirty-Five Cents ($0.35) to One Dollar and 25/100 ($1.25) per day."
On the basis of these allegations, plaintiffs conclude in Count I of their amended complaint that they are entitled to recover from the defendant drug companies the difference between the compensation received for their labor and the minimum wage prescribed by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. In Count II of their amended complaint, plaintiffs contend that if the Fair Labor Standards Act is found to be inapplicable, then plaintiffs are entitled to recover from the defendant drug companies the difference between the compensation they received for their labor and the minimum wage as prescribed by the Michigan Minimum Wage Law of 1964, Mich.Com.Laws § 408.381 et seq.
Count III of the amended complaint alleges that the utilization of the plaintiffs' labor by the drug companies is illegal under Section 800.305 Mich.Com. Laws and "has resulted in * * * the unjust enrichment of Defendants drug companies in the amount by which the reasonable value of Plaintiffs' services exceeds the amount paid by Defendants to Plaintiffs." Plaintiffs also contend in Count III that the "Defendants other than Parke Davis & Company and The Upjohn Company have been unjustly enriched * * * from the illegal use of Plaintiffs' labor by the acquisition for the State Prison of Southern Michigan of a building (i. e., the structure housing the clinic.)".
In Count IV, plaintiffs allege that "the illegal utilization * * * of Plaintiffs' labor by all Defendants and the payment by Defendants Parke Davis & Company and The Upjohn Company of nominal wages less than those required by law" has resulted and is resulting in: (1) deprivation of the property of plaintiffs without due process of law; (2) the holding of plaintiffs in involuntary servitude contrary to the Thirteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution; and (3) the denial to plaintiffs of equal protection of laws as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. For these alleged violations of their Constitutional rights, plaintiffs seek one million dollars in damages from defendants.
Plaintiffs have now filed a motion for summary judgment on Count III. The defendants Upjohn Company and Parke Davis Company have, in turn, filed motions for summary judgment on Counts I, III, IV; a motion to dismiss Count II as failing to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; and a motion for an order that plaintiffs' action cannot be maintained as a class action. Defendant Department of Corrections, its Director, and the members of the Corrections Commission have also filed a motion to dismiss the complaint as to them. All of these motions are now before the court.
In their complaint, plaintiffs state:
Defendant Upjohn Company, however, has filed a motion for an order declaring that the present case cannot be maintained as a class action under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Rule 23 requires a plaintiff who wishes to bring a class action to overcome two hurdles. First, he must satisfy all the conditions of Rule 23(a), which are:
"(1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class, (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class, and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class."
After satisfying the court that all the conditions of Rule 23(a) have been met, the litigant must establish that his action is appropriate under one of the three subdivisions of Rule 23(b). Rule 23(b) provides that:
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