Andrews v. Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc.

277 F. Supp. 3d 141
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedSeptember 28, 2017
DocketCiv. Act. No. 15-11873-TSH
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 277 F. Supp. 3d 141 (Andrews v. Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Andrews v. Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc., 277 F. Supp. 3d 141 (D. Mass. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

TIMOTHY S. HILLMAN, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Introduction

Brent Andrews (“Andrews”), and Ernest Rezendes (“Rezendes”, and, together with Andrews “Plaintiffs”) filed suit against Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc. (“WTI” or “Defendant”) alleging: statutory claims for violation of the straight wage provisions of the Massachusetts Wage Act, Mass.Gen.L. ch. 149, §§ 148, 150 (“MWA”), the overtime compensation provisions of the Massachusetts Fair Minimum Wage Act , Mass.Gen.L. ch. 151, § 1A (“MFMAW”) and Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 207 (“FLSA”), and the prevailing wage provision of the Massachusetts Wage Act, 149, §§ 26 and 27 (“MWAPW”); and Massachusetts common law claims for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment.

This Memorandum of Decision and Order addresses Defendant’s Motion For Summary Judgment (Docket No. 36). For the reasons set forth below, that motion is granted, in part, and denied, in part.

Standard of Review

Summary Judgment is appropriate where, “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Carroll v. Xerox Corp., 294 F.3d 231, 236 (1st Cir. 2002) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)). “ ‘A “genuine” issue is one that could be resolved in favor of either party, and a “material fact” is one that has the potential of affecting the outcome of the case.’ ” Sensing v. Outback Steakhouse of Florida, LLC, 575 F.3d 145, 152 (1st Cir. 2009) (quoting Calero-Cerezo v. U.S. Dep’t. of Justice, 355 F.3d 6, 19 (1st Cir. 2004)).

When considering a motion for summary judgment, the Court construes the record in the light most favorable to the nonmov-ing party and makes all reasonable inferences in favor thereof. Sensing, 575 F.3d at 153. The moving party bears the burden to demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact within the record. Id.,'at 152. “‘Once the moving party has pointed to the absence of adequate evidence supporting the nonmoving party’s case, the nonmoving party must come forward with facts that show a genuine issue for trial.’ ” Id. (citation to quoted case omitted). “’[Tjhe nonmoving party “may not rest upon mere allegations or denials of the [movant’s] pleading, but must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to each issue upon which [s/he] would bear the ultimate burden of proof at trial.” Id. (citation to quoted case omitted). The nonmov-ing party cannot rely on “conclusory allegations” or “improbable inferences”. Id. (citation to quoted case omitted). “ ‘The test is whether, as to each essential element, there is “sufficient evidence favoring .the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party.” ’ ” Id. (citation to quoted case omitted).

Findings of Fact

WTI’s Motion to Strike

WTI filed a motion to strike Plaintiffs’ statement of material facts two days before the hearing on its motion for summary judgment. At the hearing, WTI’s counsel briefly mentioned that to support Plaintiffs’ statement of material facts, which the Plaintiffs allege are undisputed, they cite to the deposition of Bernard Honeywell, who supervised Andrews for a time. See Pls’ Resp. to Defs Statement of Undisputed Material Facts (Docket No. 41)(“Pls’ Disputed Facts and Additional Factual Assertions”), at pp. 25-32; Pls’ Opp. And Mem. Of L. in Opp. To Def's Mot. For Sum.J. (Docket No. 40), at Ex. 3 (the “Honeywell Deposition”). The Honeywell Deposition was obtained in a prior case, Wright v. Weatherproof Technologies, 13-13264-WGY, which Plaintiffs alleged involved similarly situated employees who filed suit against WTI asserting substantially identical claims to the ones asserted by them in this case. Plaintiffs did not depose Honeywell in this case. Neither party otherwise made or requested to make any formal argument to the Court regarding the motion to strike. Moreover, post-hearing, Plaintiffs did not file an opposition to the motion to strike.

For the reasons set forth below, I am, for the most part, allowing the motion to strike. This is not a decision I make lightly and is not being made simply because the Plaintiffs neglected to file an opposition. I am allowing the motion because I agree with the Defendant that the evidence in the record cited by the Plaintiffs too often fails to support their factual assertions. For example, Plaintiffs assert that Bernard Honeywell (“Honeywell”) “fielded complaints from the technicians about not being paid for performing paperwork at home.” Pis’ Disputed Facts and Additional Factual Assertions, at ¶ 76. However, Honeywell’s testimony was that plaintiffs in the Wright case complained to him that they doing paperwork at home—he did not testify that they complained they were not being paid for the doing that paperwork. See Honeywell Deposition, at p. 128 lines 1-5. Additionally, Plaintiffs state that “Honeywell was aware that the technicians were not getting paid for their administrative work done at home.” Pis’ Disputed Facts and Additional Factual Assertions, at ¶ 77. While one of the deposition lines cited could be read to support this factual assertion, the others do not. Honeywell Dep. P. 133 1. 22-24; P. 1341. 1-19; p. 1451. 1-5; p. 1531. 1-7; p. 1811. 11-16. Plaintiffs assert that “[a]nother labor intensive part of the at-home paperwork were organizing, captioning and uploading photos—especially for a TremCare, which could have 500 photos. Submitting photos took approximately 30 minutes. If the photos were related to a patch-and repair job, or smaller work, the photos took approximately 15 minutes.” Pis. Additional Facts, at ¶ 80. However, what Honeywell testified about was how long it would take to caption the photos, not submit and organize them from home. In fact, Honeywell repeatedly stated that this process should have been completed at the jobsite— pushed by Plaintiffs’ counsel, he estimated it could take approximately 30 minutes if the employee took this work home to complete. Honeywell Dep. P. 1441.10-24’ p. 1451. 1-24; p. 1461. 1-20; p. 1521. 6-11.

Plaintiffs also misstate the testimony of Edward Kolasienski (“Kolasienski”). Plaintiffs state that “WTI expects its technicians, particularly Mr. Andrews and Mr. Rezendes to complete paperwork every single night.” Pis’ Disputed Facts and Additional Factual Assertions, at ¶ 100. However, what Kolasienski actually testified was that TremCare’s Q & A’s and OLI uploads were to be done every day with no exceptions, including by the Plaintiffs. They were supposed to complete this task by the end of shift, if they could not, they were to upload it at home and charge their time to that number of the job they had been working on. See Pis’ Opp. at Ex. 2 (Kolasienski Deposition), at p. 44. There are more examples which I will not take the time to point out.

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Bluebook (online)
277 F. Supp. 3d 141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/andrews-v-weatherproofing-technologies-inc-mad-2017.