Frazier v. Dall./Fort Worth Int'l Airport Bd.

285 F. Supp. 3d 969
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedJanuary 17, 2018
DocketCivil Action No. 3:16–cv–2657–M
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 285 F. Supp. 3d 969 (Frazier v. Dall./Fort Worth Int'l Airport Bd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Frazier v. Dall./Fort Worth Int'l Airport Bd., 285 F. Supp. 3d 969 (N.D. Tex. 2018).

Opinion

BARBARA M. G. LYNN, CHIEF JUDGE

Before the Court is Plaintiff's Motion for Notice to Potential Plaintiffs and Conditional Certification. (ECF No. 52). For the reasons stated below, the Motion is GRANTED .

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Plaintiff Rondellte Frazier is a full-time employee of Defendant Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Board ("DFW Board"). (See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 31, 34, ECF No. 29). He provides security-related services, like inspections and traffic management, as a Civilian Security Officer at the airport. (Frazier Aff. ¶ 4, ECF No. 53-1). For the last several years, DFW Board has been involved with the construction of an updated terminal at the airport. (Am. Compl. ¶ 32). In furtherance of this project, DFW Board contracted with several other companies1 (collectively, the "Companies")

*972to help with construction. (Id. ) The Companies then hired Plaintiff as an independent contractor to provide security-related services when he was not working for DFW Board. (Id. ¶¶ 30, 35-37).

Despite being labeled as an independent contractor, Plaintiff claims that he was in fact jointly employed by DFW Board and the Companies. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 30, 64-65, 68). Accordingly, he argues that DFW Board should have calculated his eligibility for overtime wages by combining the hours he worked for DFW Board and the Companies. (Id. ) Plaintiff filed this putative collective action, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, to recover unpaid overtime wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. Plaintiff moves for conditional certification and notice to the following sub-classes:

[1] All Civilian Security Officers who were employed by [DFW Board] and MBJ3 as an alleged independent contractor at any time during the three years preceding the filing of this lawsuit and who worked in excess of 40 hours in one or more workweeks and were not compensated at one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in one or more workweeks;
[2] All Civilian Security Officers who were employed by [DFW Board] and Wells Global as an alleged independent contractor at any time ...;
[3] All Civilian Security Officers who were employed by [DFW Board] and EAS as an alleged independent contractor at any time ...;
[4] All Civilian Security Officers who were employed by [DFW Board] and Haydon as an alleged independent contractor at any time ...;
[5] All Civilian Security Officers who were employed by [DFW Board] and Phillips as an alleged independent contractor at any time ...;
[6] All Civilian Security Officers who were employed by [DFW Board] and Balfour as an alleged independent contractor at any time ....

(See Am. Compl. ¶ 73).

II. Legal Standard

The FLSA authorizes Plaintiff to bring a collective action on behalf of similarly situated employees. See 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). A two-stage test is used to determine whether a collective action is appropriate. See Redus v. CSPH, Inc. , 2017 WL 2188777, at *1 (N.D. Tex. May 17, 2017) ; see also Mooney v. Aramco Servs. Co. , 54 F.3d 1207, 1216 (5th Cir. 1995) (finding no abuse of discretion where district court applied two-stage test).

At the "notice" stage, Plaintiff must show that there are employees who are "similarly situated with respect to their job requirements and with regard to their pay provisions."2 Redus , 2017 WL 2188777, at *2 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). This is a fairly lenient burden, one that a plaintiff can typically meet. Id. ; see also Mooney , 54 F.3d at 1214. Plaintiff need not demonstrate uniformity "in each and every aspect of employment" among potential class members. See Jones v. SuperMedia Inc., 281 F.R.D. 282, 288 (N.D. Tex. 2012). A court will foreclose a plaintiff's right to proceed *973collectively only if the action "relates to circumstances personal to plaintiff rather than any generally applicable policy or practice." Black v. Settlepou, P.C. , 2011 WL 609884, at *3 (N.D. Tex. Feb. 14, 2011) ; see also Mooney , 54 F.3d at 1214 n.8 (requiring "nothing more than substantial allegations that the putative class members were together the victims of a single decision, policy, or plan"). The court does not assess merits of the case at this stage. See, e.g. , Jones v. JGC Dallas LLC , 2012 WL 6928101, at *4 (N.D. Tex. Nov. 29, 2012) ("[E]ven if plaintiffs' claims turn out to be meritless or, in fact, all the plaintiffs turn out not to be similarly situated, notification at this stage, rather than after further discovery, may enable more efficient resolution of the underlying issues in the case.") (citation omitted); Lee v. Metrocare Servs. , 980 F.Supp.2d 754, 767 (N.D. Tex. 2013).

If a plaintiff makes the requisite showing, the court will conditionally certify the class and allow the plaintiff to notify potential class members so that they may "opt-in" to the suit.3 Redus , 2017 WL 2188777, at *2. The court must exercise its discretion "regarding the form and content of the notice so as to ensure that the notice is accurate and that it includes information that would be needed to make an informed decision about whether to join the lawsuit." Behnken v.

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Bluebook (online)
285 F. Supp. 3d 969, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/frazier-v-dallfort-worth-intl-airport-bd-txnd-2018.