Solberg v. Inline Corp.

• Decision Date: 29 June 1990
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 4-89-650.
• Citation: 740 F. Supp. 680
• Parties: Bradley J. SOLBERG, et al. v. INLINE CORP. and Dale Thornby.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota

740 F. Supp. 680

Bradley J. SOLBERG, et al. v. INLINE CORP. and Dale Thornby.

Civ. No. 4-89-650.

United States District Court, D. Minnesota, Fourth Division.

June 29, 1990.

Marshall H. Tanick, Mansfield & Tanick, Minneapolis, Minn., for plaintiffs.

Joseph A. Nilan, Lang, Pauly & Gregerson, Ltd., Minneapolis, Minn., for defendants.

ORDER

ROSENBAUM, District Judge.

Before the Court are motions filed by both plaintiffs and defendants in this putative class action. Plaintiffs move for class certification, and defendants seek summary judgment and attorney's fees. Based on the files, records, proceedings, and oral arguments herein, and for the reasons set forth below, defendants' motion for summary judgment is granted and defendants' motion for attorney's fees is denied. In light of the disposition of defendants' summary judgment motion, this Court need not address questions concerning the plaintiff class.

Inline Corporation (Inline) is a Minnesota corporation which packages products manufactured by others. Dale Thornby is Inline's president and its sole shareholder. The six named plaintiffs are former employees of Inline. Plaintiffs bring this action under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2101 et seq. (WARN).¹ Jurisdiction is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and 29 U.S.C. § 2104(a)(5).

Plaintiffs, seeking to represent more than two hundred other former employees, allege defendants violated WARN by failing to give sixty days notice prior to conducting a mass layoff. Defendants reply that WARN's notice provisions were not implicated since the plaintiffs were part-time employees and no mass layoff occurred.

It is agreed that, prior to 1989, Inline employed about 30 people. In early 1989 Inline received a major contract from Eastman Kodak, Co., which would vastly increase Inline's business during the contract's duration. In order to service this contract, Inline hired over 300 additional employees between January and May 1989. The contract was cancelled by Eastman Kodak, in late May 1989. As a result of the loss of this business Inline began discharging employees. Between May and October 1989, Inline laid off all the new hires. By November 30, 1989, Inline's work force was reduced to 32.

The six plaintiffs were hired between January and May 1989, and were discharged between June and July 1989. None of the plaintiffs had worked at Inline for six months or more.²

I. The Summary Judgment Motion

A. The Summary Judgment Standards

Summary judgment is appropriate if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56(c), Fed.R.Civ.P. "Summary judgment procedure is properly regarded not as a disfavored procedural shortcut, but rather as an integral part of the Federal Rules as a whole...." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 327, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2555, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Prior to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and notice pleading, motions to dismiss a complaint or strike a defense were the primary tools to prevent factually insufficient claims from proceeding to trial. Id. Under notice pleading, summary judgment assumes this integral function. Id.

Summary judgment may be granted against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to its case and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. Id. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. at 2552-53. The party opposing summary judgment must produce concrete facts demonstrating there is a genuine issue of fact for trial. Buford v. Tremayne, 747 F.2d 445, 447 (8th Cir.1984).

B. The Statute

WARN was passed on August 4, 1988, and became effective February 4, 1989.³ The statute, inter alia, requires certain business enterprises which employ more than 100 employees to provide sixty days notice before conducting a "mass layoff." This notice must be given to affected employees, the state dislocated worker unit, and the local government unit within which the layoff is to occur. 29 U.S.C. §§ 2101(a) and 2102(a). "Mass layoff" is statutorily defined.⁴ WARN provides that aggrieved employees may sue an employer who violates the statute's notice provisions in federal district court. 29 U.S.C. § 2104(a)(5).⁵

The present dispute turns on whether a mass layoff, in fact, occurred. For purposes of this case, the definition of mass layoff hinges on the definition of "part-time employee." WARN defines a part-time employee as "an employee who is employed for an average of fewer than 20 hours per week or who has been employed for fewer than 6 of the 12 months preceding the date on which notice is required." 29 U.S.C. § 2101(a)(8).

C. The Parties' Contentions

Defendants claim that WARN is invoked when full-time employees are terminated, citing 29 U.S.C. § 2101(a)(3) and § 2102(d). According to defendants, only eight of the discharged employees were full-time employees. It is defendants' position that no mass layoff occurred because the requisite number of full-time employees was never discharged. Defendants argue that, except for these eight full-time employees, all of those hired and discharged in 1989 were part-time employees within the statutory definition of 29 U.S.C. § 2101(a)(8). As a result, defendants contend that WARN was not implicated and they had no duty to provide WARN's notice.

Plaintiffs tacitly acknowledged at oral argument that only eight full-time employees were terminated and that the rest of the almost 300 people released were part-time. But it is plaintiffs' view that, notwithstanding the statutory definition of "part-time employee" given in 29 U.S.C. § 2101(a)(8), a technical and literal reading of that definition must not prevail over their proposed construction which they assert will further the claimed intent of the legislature. Specifically plaintiffs assert a) canons of statutory construction permit departures from literal interpretation, b) the legislative history of WARN reflects a legislative intent to include only seasonal workers and employees who work less than 20 hours per week within the definition of "part-time employee," c) remedial statutes such as WARN must be given a broad reading, and d) parallel state plant closing laws which are claimed to be WARN's ancestors exclude only seasonal and temporary workers.⁶

D. Analysis

"The starting point, as in all cases involving statutory interpretation, `must be the language employed by Congress.'" United States v. Bishop, 894 F.2d 981, 985 (8th Cir.1990) (quoting, United States v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., ___ U.S. ___, 110 S.Ct. 462, 467, 107 L.Ed.2d 462 (1989)). It is certain that if a literal application of a statute would result in an absurdity a court may look beyond the legislature's words. Public Citizen v. United States Dep't of Justice, ___ U.S. ___, 109 S.Ct. 2558, 2566, 105 L.Ed.2d 377 (1989) (citations omitted). See also Sierra Club v. Clark, 755 F.2d 608, 615 n. 9 (8th Cir. 1985).

WARN defines "part-time employee" clearly and unambiguously. Part-time employees are workers employed less than six months. 29 U.S.C. § 2101(a)(8). Normally the plain meaning of a statute will control. Tennessee Valley Auth. v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153, 184 n. 29, 98 S.Ct. 2279, 2296-97 n. 29, 57 L.Ed.2d 117 (1978). Plaintiffs, however, urge this Court to look beyond the plain language of the statute to discern a deeper meaning.

Plaintiffs argue at length that a plain reading of WARN's terms produces an unjust result. Plaintiffs' arguments are unpersuasive. Plaintiffs first point to the legislative history surrounding the adoption of the six month provision in 29 U.S.C. § 2101(a)(8). They claim this is an unusual definition of "part-time," emerging from the conference committee. They assert that "part-time employee" was never intended to encompass employees like the plaintiffs, but rather, was meant to include seasonal and what they consider to be "true" part-time employees (those working fewer than 20 hours per week).

The Court finds that, contrary to plaintiffs' position, the legislative history supports a straightforward reading of the "part-time" definition. The House Conference Committee Report discussed the "part-time employee" definition:

"Part-time employee". The Senate Amendment defines a "part-time employee" as one who is hired to work an average of fewer than 15 hours per week. It also defines a "seasonal employee" as one who is hired for a period not to exceed 3 months per year to do work that is seasonal in nature. The Conference Agreement combines these concepts into a single definition of "part-time" employee, which includes employees who work fewer than 20 hours per week or who have worked fewer than 6 months in the 12-month period prior to the point at which the employer is required to serve notice. The definition of "seasonal employee" is therefore eliminated.

H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 576, 100th Cong., 2d Sess. 1045, 1047, reprinted in 1988 U.S. Code & Admin. News 2078, 2080.

The House was clearly concerned about temporary workers. For its part, the Senate was concerned about seasonal workers and those working fewer than 15 hours per week. The conference committee crafted a definition addressing both concerns. The first part of § 2101(a)(8) includes workers working fewer than 20 hours per week; the second, encompassing both seasonal and temporary workers, employs the 6 month language.

This statute has been considered by the Department of Labor. The Secretary of Labor, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 2107(a), has promulgated regulations under WARN which provide further support for a literal interpretation of § 2101(a)(8):

(h) Part-time employee. The term "part-time" employee means an employee who is employed for an average of fewer than 20 hours per week or who has been employed for fewer than 6 of the 12 months preceding the date on which notice is required, including workers who work full-time. This term includes workers who would

...