L.P. Cavett Co. v. United States Department of Labor

892 F. Supp. 973, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14197, 1995 WL 432322
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedJuly 20, 1995
DocketNo. C-1-93-0656
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 892 F. Supp. 973 (L.P. Cavett Co. v. United States Department of Labor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
L.P. Cavett Co. v. United States Department of Labor, 892 F. Supp. 973, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14197, 1995 WL 432322 (S.D. Ohio 1995).

Opinion

ORDER

STEINBERG, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff L.P. Cavett Company’s motion for summary judgment (Doc. 9), Defendant United States Department of Labor’s motion for summary judgment (Doe. 10), the parties’ responsive memoranda and joint statement of stipulated facts (Docs. 11,12,18, 20, 22), amicus curiae Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO’s memorandum in support of the Department of Labor’s motion (Doc. 14), amicus curiae Associated General Contractors of America, Inc.’s memorandum in support of Cavett’s motion (Doc. 19), and the parties’ post-hearing submissions. (Docs. 28, 29). The parties have consented to entry of final judgment by the United States Magistrate Judge.

Cavett initiated this appeal of a July 20, 1993 Wage Appeals Board Decision that the prevailing wage requirement of the Davis-Bacon Act applies to truck drivers hauling asphalt from a temporary batch plant to a highway construction project. Relying on Building and Construction Trades Dep’t v. Dep’t of Labor (Midway Excavators, Inc.), 932 F.2d 985 (D.C.Cir.1991) and Ball, Ball & Brosamer, Inc. v. Reich, 24 F.3d 1447 (D.C.Cir.1994), Cavett contends that 29 C.F.R. § 5.2(1)1, the regulation upon which the Wage Appeals Board based its decision, is inconsistent with the Davis-Bacon Act, 40 U.S.C. § 276a, and is invalid. Cavett contends that the truck drivers were not employed “directly on the site of the work;” therefore, they are not covered by the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements.

The Department contends that 29 C.F.R. § 5.20) is valid, that the Board’s determination is consistent with the Department’s longstanding position on this issue, and that the batch plant satisfies the geographical and functional requirements of the regulation. The Department also contends that the contract under which the truck drivers in this case were working is governed by the Federal-Aid Highways Act, 23 U.S.C. § 113, rather than the Davis-Bacon Act, and is not subject to a “directly upon the site of the work” limitation.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On May 21, 1985, Cavett submitted a bid as general contractor for the reconstruction [976]*976of a 10.833 mile length of State Road 3 in Rush County, Indiana. (A.R. 91). On June 10, 1985, the Indiana Department of Highways awarded Highway Contract R-15309 to Cavett. The contract specified surface and shoulder removal, widening the highway, and resurfacing with bituminous mix. (A.R. 91, 179). At a June 12, 1985 pre-construction conference, representatives of Cavett and the Indiana Department of Highways decided that a bituminous plant would be established at Rush County Stone Company, a commercial quarry, located approximately three miles from the midpoint of the highway to be reconstructed. (A.R. 196, 223). United Asphalt, a Cavett affiliate, set up the batch plant for the State Road 3 project. (A.R. 132). Rush County Stone Company supplied the coarse aggregate for the bituminous mix. (A.R. 132, 141, 142). As shown by Indiana Department of Highways inspection reports, the batch plant was in operation from August 9, 1985 to November 18, 1985 on the State Road 3 project.2 (A.R. 135, 141, 142).

Previously, from August 15, 1984 to April 26, 1985, United Asphalt established a batch plant at Rush County Stone Company relative to a different construction contract. (A.R. 55, 132). There are no inspection reports available showing whether the batch plant was located there from April 26, 1985 to June 24, 1985. (A.R. 55). Cavett contends that the batch plant was physically located at Rush County Stone Company for that time period. (Id.). From June 24, 1985 to July 24, 1985, the batch plant was located at Harris City relative to a third construction contract. (A.R. 55, 143, 144). Sometime between July 24, 1985 and August 9, 1985, the batch plant was relocated to Rush County Stone Company to begin work on the State Road 3 project. (A.R. 55). In late fall 1985, the batch plant was disassembled. (A.R. 132).

On June 1, 1985, Cavett entered into a contract with St. John’s Trucking Company to haul materials, supplies, and equipment from June 1, 1985 to November 15, 1985. (A.R. 137). The contract did not contain a Davis-Bacon prevailing wage standards provision. Pursuant to the contract, St. John’s employees excavated damaged road areas with a backhoe, removed old asphalt and other material from the construction site, and delivered new asphalt from the batch plant to the State Road 3 project. St. Johns’s employees were not paid at the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates.

In 1988, the Department of Labor initiated an investigation of the. State Road 3 project. (A.R. 50). On May 16, 1989, the Wage and Hour Administrator issued a ruling that the employees should have been paid at the prevailing wage rate in accordance with 29 C.F.R. § 5.2(1 )(2). (A.R. 39, 42). The Administrator found that the batch plant was established after the contract was awarded, that the batch plant was three to five miles from the construction site, and that the material produced at the batch plant was furnished exclusively, or nearly so, to the contract work. (A.R. 43).

Cavett agreed to pay the prevailing wage rate to the backhoe operator and truck drivers removing old asphalt from the site, but not to the truck drivers delivering new asphalt to the site. (A.R. 52). On the latter issue, Cavett appealed the Administrator’s decision that these workers were covered by the Davis-Bacon Act. (A.R. 2). On May 31, 1989, the Board affirmed the Administrator’s ruling. (A.R. 242). Cavett requested reconsideration in view of the District of Columbia Circuit’s May 17, 1985 decision in Building and Construction Trades Dep’t v. Dep’t of Labor (Midway Excavators, Inc.), 932 F.2d 985 (D.C.Cir.1991). The Wage Appeals Board reaffirmed the Administrator’s ruling on the ground that 29 C.F.R. § 5.2(l), as a duly promulgated Department of Labor regulation, is binding on it. (A.R. 396). The Board also found that the batch plant satisfied both the geographical and functional tests of 29 C.F.R. § 52(1). (A.R. 397). Ca-vett filed this action on September 22, 1993.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

A motion for summary judgment should be granted if the evidence submitted [977]*977to the Court demonstrates that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56; Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
892 F. Supp. 973, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14197, 1995 WL 432322, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lp-cavett-co-v-united-states-department-of-labor-ohsd-1995.