McCrae v. S. Ga. Cargo, LLC

374 F. Supp. 3d 1336
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Georgia
DecidedApril 16, 2019
DocketCV 5:18-094
StatusPublished

This text of 374 F. Supp. 3d 1336 (McCrae v. S. Ga. Cargo, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCrae v. S. Ga. Cargo, LLC, 374 F. Supp. 3d 1336 (S.D. Ga. 2019).

Opinion

HON. LISA GODBEY WOOD, JUDGE

Plaintiff filed the original Complaint on December 10, 2018. Dkt. No. 1. Defendants timely moved to dismiss the original Complaint. Dkt. No. 10. Plaintiff responded to the motion to dismiss, dkt. no. 12, but also timely filed an Amended Complaint, dkt. no. 13. Defendants then filed a motion to dismiss this new, Amended Complaint, dkt. no. 15. Before the Court, then, are Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the original Complaint, dkt. no. 10, and Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint, dkt. no. 15. These motions are fully briefed and ripe for review. For the reasons stated below, both motions are DENIED.

BACKGROUND

The facts stated herein are taken solely from Plaintiff's Amended Complaint and are assumed to be true pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Defendant South Georgia Cargo builds and sells trailers to customers across the country. Dkt. No. 13 ¶ 11. Plaintiff was employed by Defendants at their plant in Pearson, Georgia from 2017 to 2018. Id. ¶ 7. Plaintiff worked five days a week and sometimes six days a week. Id. ¶ 17. Plaintiff was not required to clock in or out each day he worked and thus does not have records of his hours worked in a particular week. Id. ¶ 15. Nevertheless, Plaintiff alleges that he worked in excess of 40 hours per workweek throughout his employment; in fact, most weeks he worked between 50 and 60 hours. Id. ¶ 16. His work day typically *1337began at 7:00 a.m. and lasted anywhere from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Id. ¶ 17.

Throughout his employment, Defendants classified Plaintiff as "exempt" and compensated him on a purported "salary" basis. Id. ¶ 18. For each week's pay period, Plaintiff was paid a lump sum, which varied, and that sum was characterized on his paystub as a "salary." Id. ¶¶ 19-38. During the twenty workweeks identified in the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff worked more than 40 hours but was not paid overtime. Id. ¶ 41. Plaintiff alleges that he was not an "exempt" employee as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), and thus, he was entitled to be paid at a rate of time-and-a-half his regular rate of pay, i.e., an overtime rate, for all hours worked over 40 in a particular workweek. Id. ¶ 40.

Because Plaintiff was not paid the compensation to which he alleges he was entitled, Plaintiff filed this action to recover damages under the FLSA.

LEGAL STANDARD

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) requires that a plaintiff's complaint contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). When ruling on a motion to dismiss brought pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), a district court must accept as true the facts set forth in the complaint and draw all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff's favor. Randall v. Scott, 610 F.3d 701, 705 (11th Cir. 2010). Although a complaint need not contain detailed factual allegations, it must contain "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).

"A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). The Court accepts the allegations in the complaint as true and draws all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. Ray v. Spirit Airlines, Inc., 836 F.3d 1340, 1347 (11th Cir. 2016). However, the Court does not accept as true threadbare recitations of the elements of the claim and disregards legal conclusions unsupported by factual allegations. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678-79, 129 S.Ct. 1937. At a minimum, a complaint should "contain either direct or inferential allegations respecting all the material elements necessary to sustain a recovery under some viable legal theory." Fin. Sec. Assurance, Inc. v. Stephens, Inc., 500 F.3d 1276, 1282-83 (11th Cir. 2007) (per curiam) (quoting Roe v. Aware Woman Ctr. for Choice, Inc., 253 F.3d 678, 683 (11th Cir. 2001) ).

DISCUSSION

I. Motion to Dismiss the Original Complaint

Under Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a party may amend its pleading once as a matter of course within 21 days after service of a motion under Rule 12(b). Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a) (1) (B). An amended pleading "supersedes the former pleading" such that "the original pleading is abandoned by the amendment, and is no longer a part of the pleader's averments against his adversary." Dresdner Bank AG v. M/V OLYMPIA VOYAGER, 463 F.3d 1210, 1215 (11th Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

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

Related

Roe v. Aware Woman Center for Choice, Inc.
253 F.3d 678 (Eleventh Circuit, 2001)
Dresdner Bank AG v. M/V Olympia Voyager
463 F.3d 1210 (Eleventh Circuit, 2006)
Financial SEC. Assur., Inc. v. Stephens, Inc.
500 F.3d 1276 (Eleventh Circuit, 2007)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Randall v. Scott
610 F.3d 701 (Eleventh Circuit, 2010)
Lundy v. Catholic Health System of Long Island Inc.
711 F.3d 106 (Second Circuit, 2013)
Greg Landers v. Quality Communications, Inc.
771 F.3d 638 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
Bryan Ray v. Spirit Airlines, Inc.
836 F.3d 1340 (Eleventh Circuit, 2016)
Cooley v. HMR of Alabama, Inc.
259 F. Supp. 3d 1312 (N.D. Alabama, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
374 F. Supp. 3d 1336, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccrae-v-s-ga-cargo-llc-gasd-2019.