Kerew v. Emerson Radio & Phonograph Corp.

76 F. Supp. 197, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3031
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJune 16, 1947
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 76 F. Supp. 197 (Kerew v. Emerson Radio & Phonograph Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kerew v. Emerson Radio & Phonograph Corp., 76 F. Supp. 197, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3031 (S.D.N.Y. 1947).

Opinion

LEIBELL, District Judge.

The plaintiff has brought this suit under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 201 et seq., claiming that for a certain number of hours in various weeks from the date of his employment he was paid only straight time instead of time and a half for overtime. The suit is based upon Section 7 and Section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

[198]*198The defendant has pleaded certain special defenses. He claims that under Section 13 of the Fair Labor Standards Act the plaintiff was in an exempt class and was not covered by the Act; that is, that he was employed in an executive or in an administrative capacity.

As to that defense, as I have already stated during the course of argument, I would dismiss so much of that defense as related to the claim that the plaintiff was employed in an executive capacity.

The defendant also, prior to the actual trial, amended its answer by pleading an additional defense known as a second, separate and distinct defense, in which it alleged “That the acts or omissions complained of, alleged in the complaint, if any, were in good faith in conformity and in reliance on administrative regulation, order, ruling, approval, interpretation, administrative practice or enforcement policy of the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor.”

The pleading is set up as a defense under the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947, which amended Section 16(b). As I stated during the argument of counsel, the proof in respect to that special defense was rather thin. No reference was had with the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division until some time in March or April of 1944, and that conference apparently was the result of certain complaints that had been made by employees that they were not being paid as they should have been paid under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The plaintiff and the plaintiff’s job were npt discussed at that conference. So this second special defense of the' defendant, based upon the good faith excuse, is dismissed.

Now as to the plaintiff’s services: It appears that when he was originally hired on April 6, 1943, there was a written agreement covering his services. He was engaged as an associate engineer; at any rate, that was the title given to him, and the rate of his compensation was fixed in writing at $60 per week. He continued to receive $60 per week until October 4, 1943.

In the period from April 6, 1943, until September of 1943 the plaintiff was engaged in the engineering department, and his work was done under the supervision of Mr. Fogel. The plaintiff’s work during that period consisted of building apparatus that was to be used in testing the equipment that was to be manufactured for the Government under the various contracts that Emerson had received from the Government. In performing that work plaintiff worked with his hands. A good part of it was manual, and he was assigned to that work because of his special skill. The plaintiff was a very efficient workman, and he was to a great extent self-educated, especially in this particular field. It seems to me that the services he rendered during that period, while he was engaged in the engineering department working on testing apparatus, were services which are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act'.

Towards the end of September he was transferred to another department, another subdivision of the engineering department, and he worked there until January 1944. The nature of his services in that department was that of a highly skilled mechanic. He helped build pre-production models of certain parts of the equipment that the defendant was supposed to construct under its contracts with the Government. One of these contracts at that time was known as the N. D. N. G. contract, and part of the work of that contract was sublet to two sub-contractors, the International Muto-scope Company and the Lewyte Corporation.

Towards the end of January the nature of the plaintiff’s duties changed, and he was then assigned to act as the defendant’s representative at the plants of the International Mutoscope Company and the Lewyte Corporation. At about that time, too, his salary was increased from $65 per week to $71 per week, that is, as of the week beginning February 1, 1944. Plaintiff’s duties at the end of January 1944, when he began to act as the defendant’s representative at International Mutoscope Company and the Lewyte Corporation were to represent the defendant at the plants of these two sub-contractors, to observe the [199]*199work that was being done there by the subcontractors, to make spot tests of equipment in the course of its manufacture in those plants, and also to attend conferences with some of the head men of the department headed by Mr. Dostal. Mr. Dostal was in charge of the sub-contracts. He was manager of government contracts, and he also was the manager in charge of the sub-contract department of the defendant. Mr. Kerew attended conferences'with this Mr. Dostal, and also certain other top executives of the firm, and he made suggestions, and his opinion and advice were sought on various problems that arose from time to time in connection with the production work in the plants of these subcontractors.

As to his authority and his discretion and judgment it appears that he had authority to make minor changes in the construction of the various articles covered by the subcontracts, but of course any basic change was beyond his authority. Those changes, since this was a Government contract, had to be approved by the representatives of the armed forces for whom this apparatus was being manufactured.

Suggestions of the plaintiff on several occasions resulted in more efficient production. He was a field man of the defendant. Part of his job was to see that production at the plants of these two sub-contractors was maintained at the proper standard required by the specifications, and also that it was continuously performed. In fact there was a schedule that had been set up, that had been referred to as having been fixed for the production of the sub-contractor, and it was the plaintiff’s job to see that that schedule was maintained so far as possible.

On occasions the plaintiff assisted in showing the workmen how a repair might be made, and in some instances he made some repairs himself, but his work at these plants was not manual work. It was the work of a supervisor or field inspector. He was a representative of the defendant at those plants.

Later, in connection with another contract that the defendant had with the armed services for the production of what was known as N. Q. equipment, the plaintiff performed similar services at two of the sub-contractors’ plants. One of them, I believe, was that of Jabez Burns.

While plaintiff was employed at the plant of the International Mutoscope Company or the Lewyte Corporation, he had a badge which described him as a resident inspector. Apparently this was a badge that the sub-contractor had furnished to him in order that he might be admitted in and about the premises of the plant of the sub-contractor, in view of the fact that the sub-contractor was engaged on war contracts at the time.

Apparently Kerew was the sole Emerson representative at those plants of the subcontractors. The defendant did have a department known as the field inspection department, and maybe some of those inspectors went there at times, but Kerew was employed by the engineering department and had been loaned to the sub-contract department and was working under Mr. Dostal.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
76 F. Supp. 197, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3031, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kerew-v-emerson-radio-phonograph-corp-nysd-1947.