Hetland v. Hirsch

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedMarch 4, 2022
Docket2:21-cv-00487
StatusUnknown

This text of Hetland v. Hirsch (Hetland v. Hirsch) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hetland v. Hirsch, (D. Ariz. 2022).

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

9 Tobias Hetland, No. CV-21-00487-PHX-MTL

10 Plaintiff, ORDER

11 v.

12 Patrick Hirsch, et al.,

13 Defendants. 14 15 Plaintiff Tobias Hetland moves for default judgment against Defendants Outlaw 16 Roadside Service and Patrick Hirsch and Jane Doe Hirsch (collectively, “the Hirsches”), 17 pursuant to Rule 55(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (Doc. 11.) The Hirsches 18 have not appeared or filed any response. For the reasons discussed below, the motion for 19 default judgment is granted and Hetland is awarded $32,209.80 plus reasonable attorneys’ 20 fees and costs and post-judgment interest.1 21 I. BACKGROUND2 22 The Hirsches own and operate Outlaw Roadside Service, “a roadside assistance 23 company which provides common services such as tire changing, jump starts, fuel 24 deliveries, and lockout services.” (Doc. 1 at ¶ 11.) Outlaw Roadside Service hired 25 technicians to aid customers requiring roadside assistance across Arizona, Illinois, and 26 1 Turner Smith, a second-year law student at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at 27 Arizona State University, assisted in drafting this Order. 2 “Upon default the factual allegations of the complaint, except those relating to the amount 28 of damages, will be taken as true.” NewGen LLC v. Safe Cig LLC, 840 F.3d 606, 617 (9th Cir. 2016) (quoting Geddes v. United Fin. Grp., 559 F.2d 557, 560 (9th Cir. 1977)). 1 Texas. (Id. ¶¶ 36–38, 40, 48, 50.) 2 Hetland worked as a roadside assistance technician for Outlaw Roadside Service 3 from April 2020 to February 2021. (Id. ¶ 36.) During that time, Hetland was required to be 4 “on call” twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. (Id. ¶ 39.) As a result, Hetland 5 routinely worked more than 70 hours per week. (Id. ¶ 46.) He was compensated with “a 6 certain commission percentage per job performed within his standard geographic coverage 7 area . . . regardless of how many hours he worked in a given workweek.” (Id. ¶ 39.) 8 In March 2021, Hetland filed a complaint seeking relief for unpaid minimum and 9 overtime wages. (Id. ¶¶ 5, 6.) Hetland alleges that Outlaw Roadside Service willfully 10 misclassified him as an independent contractor instead of an employee. (Id. ¶¶ 40, 54.) In 11 fact, Hetland claims that the Hirsches “unfairly, fraudulently, and unconscionably 12 attempted to coerce [him] to waive [his] statutory rights and elect to be treated as [an] 13 independent contractor[].” (Id. ¶ 56.) The result, according to Hetland, is unpaid minimum 14 and overtime wages owed to him. (Id. ¶ 44.) 15 The Hirsches, who stand in the place of Outlaw Roadside Service when assessing 16 liability, were timely served with the summons and complaint.3 (Docs. 5–7.) They have not 17 filed an answer, a motion to dismiss, or any other response. Upon Hetland’s application 18 (Doc. 8), the Clerk of the Court entered default against the Hirsches. (Doc. 9). Hetland 19 subsequently filed the pending motion for default judgment. (Doc. 11.) No response has 20 been filed. 21 II. LEGAL STANDARD 22 Once a default is entered, the district court has discretion to grant default judgment. 23 See Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b)(2); Aldabe v. Aldabe, 616 F.2d 1089, 1092 (9th Cir. 1980); Brooke 24 v. Sai Ashish Inc., No. 1:21C-cv-00967-AWI-SAB, 2021 WL 4804220, at *5 (E.D. Cal. 25 Oct. 14, 2021) (explaining that default judgment “is a two-step process: an entry of default 26 3 The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held employers individually liable under the 27 FLSA. See e.g., Walsh v. Wellfleet Commc’ns, No. 20-16385, 2021 WL 4796537, at *2 (9th Cir. Oct. 14, 2021). Likewise, the District of Arizona has held that employers may be 28 individually liable under both the FLSA and the AMWA. See e.g., Rosen v. Fasttrak Foods LLC, No. CV-19-05292-PHX-DWL, 2021 WL 2981590, at *5 (D. Ariz. July 15, 2021). 1 judgment must be preceded by an entry of default”). The court may consider several factors 2 when deciding to grant default, including 3 (1) the possibility of prejudice to the plaintiff; (2) the merits of the claim; (3) the sufficiency of the complaint; (4) the sum of 4 money at stake; (5) the possibility of a dispute concerning material facts; (6) whether default was due to excusable 5 neglect; and (7) the strong policy underlying the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure favoring a decision on the merits. 6 7 Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470, 1471–72 (9th Cir. 1986); New Gen, LLC v. Safe Cig, LLC, 8 840 F.3d 606, 616 (9th Cir. 2016). As the party seeking default judgment, Hetland “bears 9 the burden of demonstrating to the Court that the complaint is sufficient on its face and that 10 the Eitel factors weigh in favor of granting default judgment.” Ronald Norris v. Shenzhen 11 IVPS Tech. Co., No. CV-20-01212-PHX-DWL, 2021 WL 4844116, at *2 (D. Ariz. Oct. 12 18, 2021). Hetland also bears the burden of proving all damages. Philip Morris USA, Inc. 13 v. Castworld Prod., Inc., 219 F.R.D. 494, 498 (C.D. Cal. 2003). 14 III. DISCUSSION 15 A. Jurisdiction, Venue, and Service 16 “When entry of default is sought against a party who has failed to plead or otherwise 17 defend, a district court has an affirmative duty to look into its jurisdiction over both the 18 subject matter and the parties.” Tuli v. Republic of Iraq, 172 F.3d 707, 712 (9th Cir. 1999). 19 Hetland correctly asserts that this Court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 20 28 U.S.C. § 1331, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq, and 28 U.S.C. § 1367. (Doc. 1 ¶ 16.) Hetland 21 asserts claims arising under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the Arizona 22 Minimum Wage Act (“AMWA”). (Id. ¶¶ 5–6.) The district courts of the United States have 23 subject matter jurisdiction over claims arising out of federal law, including the FLSA, 24 under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Hetland’s state law claim under the AMWA forms “part of the 25 same case or controversy under Article III of the United States Constitution” as his FLSA 26 claim. 28 U.S.C. § 1367. (Id. ¶¶ 5, 16.) The Court has supplemental jurisdiction over 27 Hetland’s state law claim. 28 Hetland correctly argues that venue is proper pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(ii) 1 because Hetland worked for Outlaw Roadside Service within the jurisdictional boundaries 2 of this district. (Id. ¶ 17.) Hetland supported this assertion with a declaration. (Doc. 11-1 ¶ 3 2.) Therefore, “a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim” 4 occurred in this district. 28 U.S.C. § 1391

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

James v. Frame
6 F.3d 307 (Fifth Circuit, 1993)
Baker v. Flint Engineering & Construction Co.
137 F.3d 1436 (Tenth Circuit, 1998)
Lomont, Kent A. v. O'Neill, Paul H.
285 F.3d 9 (D.C. Circuit, 2002)
Alvera M. Aldabe v. Charles D. Aldabe
616 F.2d 1089 (Ninth Circuit, 1980)
Gary R. Eitel v. William D. McCool
782 F.2d 1470 (Ninth Circuit, 1986)
Mousa v. Islamic Republic of Iran
238 F. Supp. 2d 1 (District of Columbia, 2001)
Holowaty v. McDonald's, Corp.
10 F. Supp. 2d 1078 (D. Minnesota, 1998)
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. v. Streeter
438 F. Supp. 2d 1065 (D. Arizona, 2006)
Newgen, LLC v. Safe Cig, LLC
840 F.3d 606 (Ninth Circuit, 2016)
Philip Morris USA Inc. v. Castworld Products, Inc.
219 F.R.D. 494 (C.D. California, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Hetland v. Hirsch, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hetland-v-hirsch-azd-2022.