Goulas v. Lagreca

945 F. Supp. 2d 693, 35 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1110, 2013 WL 1947476, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66975
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Louisiana
DecidedMay 10, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 12-898
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 945 F. Supp. 2d 693 (Goulas v. Lagreca) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goulas v. Lagreca, 945 F. Supp. 2d 693, 35 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1110, 2013 WL 1947476, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66975 (E.D. La. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER AND REASONS

ELDON E. FALLON, District Judge.

The Court has pending before it Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment. (Rec. Doc. 47). The Court has reviewed the briefs and the applicable law and now issues this Order and Reasons.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts

Plaintiff Neal Goulas brings this action for unpaid overtime and wrongful termination against his former employer, Defendant LaGreca Services, Inc. (“Services”), doing business as LaGreca Transportation, and its owner, Defendant Charles P. LaGreca, Jr. (“LaGreca”). The uncontested facts in the case are as follows. LaGreca is Plaintiffs uncle and the founder of Services, a horizontal directional drilling company. Services employs crews of four to six employees, who perform drilling work. Plaintiff began working on one of these crews in February 2007.

In either late 2007 or early 2008, Plaintiff was promoted to the position of superintendent and received a corresponding pay increase. Plaintiff also worked as a superintendent from mid-2009 until May 2010. There is some dispute over the extent of Plaintiffs job responsibilities as superintendent, but it is undisputed that he was responsible for drafting daily re[695]*695ports and documenting the progress of his crew, as well as tracking and ensuring that the crew had sufficient supplies and materials for their work. While working for Services,- Plaintiff was paid on a weekly-basis. The number of hours that Plaintiff and other Services employees worked would vary from week to week. Defendants claim that Plaintiff was guaranteed an annual income of $65,000 regardless of the number of hours he worked, but Plaintiff disputes this assertion.

Plaintiffs employment was terminated in May 2010, following the hiring of another employee, John Lyons. Plaintiff had objected to the hiring of Mr. Lyons, and had voiced this opinion to LaGreea. The facts surrounding that conversation remain in dispute, but it is undisputed that soon after Mr. Lyons was hired, Plaintiff accidentally called LaGreea, and LaGreea overheard him making critical comments about Mr. Lyons. The next day, LaGreea met with Plaintiff. During the meeting, Plaintiff complained to LaGreea about alleged drug use by his co-worker, although Plaintiff never threatened to disclose the violation of any law by Services to a third party. By the end of that meeting, Plaintiffs employment with Services had ended

B. Procedural History

Plaintiff brought suit on October 18, 2010 in the 32nd Judicial District Court for the Parish of Terrebonne. His Petition for Damages alleges that he was never compensated for 20 or more hours of overtime that he was working each week.- (Rec. Doc. 1-1 at p. 2, ¶ 2). Furthermore, Plaintiff alleges that he was fired in retaliation after he reported a safety violation and/or the use of drugs on the premises. Id. at ¶ 3. He requests “past due wages, vacation pay, bonus, penalty wages, and attorney fees pursuant to Louisiana law.” Id. at p. 3; ¶ 9.

On November 4, 2010, Defendants filed Dilatory and Peremptory Exceptions, alleging, essentially, that Plaintiff had incorrectly named the Defendants - in his Petition. Id. at pp. 5-6. Plaintiff amended his Petition to remedy this deficiency, id. at pp. 8-9, and Defendants filed an Answer and Reconventional Demand, alleging that Plaintiff was a salaried exempt employee and that no safety violation had occurred, id. at pp. 13-14, ¶¶ 2-3. Defendants brought their Reconventional Demand against Plaintiff and his wife, Jennifer Goulas, based on a balance allegedly due on a promissory note and for various other allegedly unpaid personal loans. Id. at pp. 15-16, ¶¶ 9-13.

On March 8, 2012, the Plaintiff and Mrs. Goulas filed Peremptory Exceptions in response to LaGreca’s reconventional demand. Id. at pp. 20-27. In that filing, the Goulases indicated for the first time that Plaintiff was bringing suit for “Failure to Pay Overtime in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act.” Id. at p. 22. On April 5, 2012, Defendants removed the case to this Court, asserting federal question jurisdiction. (Rec. Doc. 1 at ¶ 14). This Court previously granted Defendants leave to amend their counterclaims (Rec. Doe. 18), but on April 1, 2013, after Defendants conceded that the Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, all counterclaims except the claim for unpaid salary advances were remanded to state court. (Rec. Doc. 46).

II. PRESENT MOTION

Defendants now file this Motion for Summary Judgment on Plaintiffs claims. (Rec. Doc. 47). Defendants’ main argument is that Plaintiff was exempt from FLSA under both the executive exemption and the administrative exemption. Furthermore, Defendants argue that some of Plaintiffs claims are barred by the statute [696]*696of limitations. Defendants also argue that summary judgment is warranted on Plaintiffs whistleblower claims and Plaintiffs claims against LaGreea individually, due to legal defects in those claims. Plaintiff opposes the motion and argues that he was not actually exempt under either exemption cited by Defendants, that Defendants’ willful conduct means that a longer limitations period applies, and that Plaintiffs whistleblower claims and claims against LaGreea individually are legally adequate.

III. LAW AND ANALYSIS

A. Standard on Motions for Summary Judgment

A district court can grant a motion for summary judgment only when the “ ‘pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.’ ” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)). When considering a motion for summary judgment, the district court “will review the facts drawing all inferences most favorable to the party opposing the motion.” Reid v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 784 F.2d 577, 578 (5th Cir.1986). The court must find “[a] factual dispute ... [to be] ‘genuine’ if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party ... [and a] fact ... [to be] ‘material’ if it might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing substantive law.” Beck v. Somerset Techs., Inc., 882 F.2d 993, 996 (5th Cir.1989) (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)).

“If the moving party meets the initial burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact, the burden shifts to the non-moving party to produce evidence or designate specific facts showing the existence of a genuine issue for trial.” Engstrom v. First Nat’l Bank of Eagle Lake, 47 F.3d 1459, 1462 (5th Cir.1995) (citing Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-24, 106 S.Ct.

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945 F. Supp. 2d 693, 35 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 1110, 2013 WL 1947476, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66975, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goulas-v-lagreca-laed-2013.