Fast Gear Distributing, Inc. v. Rodriguez

116 F. Supp. 3d 839, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93801, 2015 WL 4430086
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedJuly 20, 2015
DocketCase No. 14-14487
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 116 F. Supp. 3d 839 (Fast Gear Distributing, Inc. v. Rodriguez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fast Gear Distributing, Inc. v. Rodriguez, 116 F. Supp. 3d 839, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93801, 2015 WL 4430086 (E.D. Mich. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Doc. 11) AND GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Doc. 10) AND DISMISSING CASE

AVERN COHN, District Judge.

I. Introduction

This is a case arising out of the denial of a petition to permit a nón-immigrant to work in the United States. Plaintiff Fast Gear Distribution, Inc, (Fast Gear) seeks judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 702, of [841]*841the defendant, Leon Rodriguez, as Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service’s (USCIS) denial of Fast Gear’s Form 1-129, Petition for Non-immigrant Worker. Fast Gear filed the petition on behalf of Baoping Li (Li), a Chinese citizen. Specifically, Fast Gear sought to employ, as a “Project Engineer” at its facility in the United States. This requires a showing that Li will be engaged in a “speciality occupation” and therefore entitled to an Hl-B visa. As will be explained, the petition was denied because Fast Gear did not meet its burden of showing that the position offered for Li qualifies as a “specialty occupation” and because USCIS could not determine whether Fast Gear would be in compliance with the terms and conditions of the Labor Condition Application (LCA) certified by the Department of Labor.

Before the' Court aré the parties’ cross motions for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, USCIS’s will be granted and Fast Gear’s motion will be denied.

II. Background

Fast Gear is an automotive part import/export business established in 2001. It has three employees in the United States. CAR at 81,86.1 On April 1, -2014, Fast Gear filed a Form 1-129 petition at USCIS’s California Service Center. Fast Gear sought a non-immigration visa for Li, a non-citizen working in a specialty occupation, known as an Hl-B visa under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b). See CAR at 81-93 Fast Gear said it will employ Li as a full-time “project engineer” at an annual wage of $60,050, for the three-year period 10/1/2014 to 9/3/2017. CAR at 85-86. The petition identifies Fast Gear’s business lo- • cation as 45247 Oak Forest Drive, Ndrth-ville, Michigan, and states that Li will “not be assigned to work at an off-site location for all or part of the period for which HIB classification is sought.” CAR at 81-93.

Fast Gear also submitted a Form ETA 9035, Labor Condition Application for Nonimmigrant Workers (LCA), under the title “Engineers, all other.” CAR at 94-99. The “place of employment” identified on that form is 45247 Oak Forest Drive, Northville, Michigan. CAR at 97. •

In addition, Fast Gear submitted a letter of support dated March 15, 2014 and signed by its president, in which he described the company as a wholly-owned subsidiary of a parent company which has long-term business relationships, with increased sales volume with United States customers. The letter also stated that Fast Gear was established in 2001 in the United States to “guarantee timely delivery” of the parent company’s products to its U.S. customers. CAR at 100. The letter further stated that Fast Gear’s business “requires us to transfer a Project Engineer to the U.S. to provide customer service, quality control, and technical support.” The letter described the primary responsibilities of this position as follows:

(1) Design and develop quality assurance programs and inspection procedures according to the government and industry standards using principles of mechanical engineering (approximately 20% of daily work time);
(2) Analyze mechanical elements of the product materials to ensure full compliance with the quality requirements (approximately 15% of daily work time);
(3) Involve in product inspection process and recommend new design to improve product quality (approximately 15% of daily work time)
(4) Interact with our U.S. customers to identify their requirements, specifications and concerns in order to recom[842]*842mend new designs based on the information gathered from the customers (approximately 15% of daily work time);
(5) Research new technology and new materials for the purpose of promoting “Green Products” in our future design and productions( approximately 15% of work time);
(6) Play a leading role in our efforts to receive certification from ISO for all of the products (approximately 10% of work time);
(7) Coordinate with production department and management teams in China (approximately 10% of work time).

CAR at 101.

On July 3, 2014, USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) seeking additional evidence to support that the offered job qualifies as a specialty occupation. CAR at 54-58. In the area of “job description,” the RFE specifically requested:

a more detailed description of the work to be performed by the beneficiary for the entire requested period of validity, Include specific job duties, the percentage of time to be spent on each duty, level of responsibility, hours per week of work, and the minimum education, training, and experience necessary to do the job. Also, explain why the work to be performed requires the services of a person who has a college degree or its equivalent in the occupational field.

CAR at 55.

Fast Gear responded in a letter dated July 25, 2014. CAR at 59. The response included another letter from Fast Gear’s president which states that Fast Gear was established in the United States by its parent company in 2001 “to guarantee the product quality.” The letter explained that while typically, Fast Gear “hired engineers in the local market,” but that it’s— increased volume of business required it “to hire an engineer who is familiar with our products manufactured in China.” CAR at 60. The letter also stated that “the company’s business is unique and distinctive because we provide technical support and services to our parent company in China. As a result, we have to hire a Project Engineer who must not only possess at least a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering but also substantial experience with the products and manufacturing procedures of our Parent Company.” CAR at 60-61.

The letter also enlarged the description of the duties in its initial letter of support as follows:

(1) Design and develop quality assurance programs and inspection procedures according to the government and industry standards using principles of mechanical engineering with concentration on our customers’ requirements in order to endure that the quality of our products meet or exceed both government, industry standards using principles of mechanical engineering with concentration on our customers’ requirements in order to ensure that the quality of our products meet or exceed both government, industry and customers’ standards (approximately 20% of daily work time);
(2) Analyze mechanical elements of the product materials to ensure full compliance with the quality requirements in all aspects such as NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness), durability, fatigueless, crashworthy, etc. (approximately 15% of daily work time);

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116 F. Supp. 3d 839, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93801, 2015 WL 4430086, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fast-gear-distributing-inc-v-rodriguez-mied-2015.