Mendoza v. Discount C.V. Joint Rack & Pinion Rebuilding, Inc.

101 F. Supp. 3d 1282, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52179, 2015 WL 1810596
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedApril 21, 2015
DocketCase No. 13-24081-CIV
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 101 F. Supp. 3d 1282 (Mendoza v. Discount C.V. Joint Rack & Pinion Rebuilding, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mendoza v. Discount C.V. Joint Rack & Pinion Rebuilding, Inc., 101 F. Supp. 3d 1282, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52179, 2015 WL 1810596 (S.D. Fla. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT

JONATHAN GOODMAN, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff Yader Jose Mendoza’s (“Plaintiff’) Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (the “Motion”). [ECF No. 39], Defendants failed to file a response in [1285]*1285opposition. The Court has reviewed the Motion1 and relevant portions of the record. For the reasons outlined below, the Motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. Background

Plaintiff Yader Jose Mendoza (“Plaintiff’) filed this action on November 8, 2013, seeking unpaid overtime wages pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq. [ECF No. 1]. According to the allegations in the Complaint, Defendant Discount C.V. Joint Rack & Pinion Rebuilding, Inc. (“Discount”) employed Plaintiff as a front end technician and stock clerk from July 15, 2010 through July 14, 2013. [ECF No. 1 at ¶ 12]. Plaintiff asserts that Defendant Luis E. Torres-Visaez (“Torres-Visaez”) was the corporate officer and owner of Discount for the relevant time period and ran Discount’s day-to-day operations.2 [Id. at ¶ 6]. Plaintiff alleges that Lopez was therefore his employer pursuant 29 U.S.C. § 203(d). [Id.].

Plaintiff claims that Defendants Discount and Torres-Visaez (collectively, the “Defendants”) willfully and intentionally refused to pay overtime wages as required by the FLSA during the relevant time period. [Id. at ¶ 17]. Although the Complaint does not define the relevant time period, Plaintiffs Statement of Claim designates it as November 8, 2010 through July 14, 2013. [ECF No. 7]. Plaintiff alleges that he was not paid at all for approximately eight hours of overtime per week during the relevant time period. [Id.].

II. Discussion

a. The Motion

Plaintiffs summary judgment Motion asks the Court to find that:

1) FLSA individual and enterprise coverage (and therefore subject matter jurisdiction) exists for the relevant time period;

2) Defendant Torres-Visaez was, along with Discount, Plaintiffs “employer” for FLSA liability purposes;

3) The executive/supervisory and administrative exemptions are not applicable in this matter and therefore Plaintiff is not an employee exempt from FLSA requirements; and

4) Liability has been established, and therefore, at trial, the jury will only nee d to determine the amount of damages.

[ECF No. 39, pp. 1-2],

As noted, Defendants failed to oppose the summary judgment Motion, which was filed on March 9, 2015, along with Plaintiffs Statement of Undisputed Material Facts (as required by Local Rule 56.1).3 [ECF Nos. 39; 40]. The time do so has [1286]*1286long since passed, and this Motion is now ripe for review.

b. The Summary Judgment Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate when the pleadings, depositions, affidavits and exhibits show that there is no genuine issue of material fact, and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a), (c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). An issue of fact is “material” if it is a legal element of the claim under applicable substantive law which might affect the outcome of the case. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Allen v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 121 F.3d 642, 646 (11th Cir.1997). An issue of fact is “genuine” if the record taken as a whole could lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party. Allen, 121 F.3d at 646.

On a motion for summary judgment, the court must view all the evidence and all factual inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and determine whether the evidence could reasonably sustain a jury verdict for the non-movant. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Allen, 121 F.3d at 646. Thus, if “conflicts arise between the facts evidenced by the parties, we [must] credit the nonmoving party’s version.” Feliciano v. City of Miami Beach, 707 F.3d 1244, 1247 (11th Cir.2013) (emphasis in original) (internal citations and quotations omitted).

c. Plaintiff is an Individual Covered by the FLSA, but the Motion is Denied as to Enterprise Coverage.

To establish an FLSA claim, a plaintiff must show, among other things, either “individual coverage” or “enterprise coverage.” 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1). Plaintiffs Motion asks the Court to find that Defendant Discount is an enterprise engaged in commerce under the FLSA, and also that Plaintiff is an individual covered by the FLSA. The Motion is granted as to individual coverage, but denied as to enterprise coverage. Each is evaluated in turn below.

Before reaching that analysis however, the Court must first address the procedural posture of this case, and specifically Defendants’ failure to oppose the summary judgment Motion. Defendants’ Answers4 deny allegations in the Complaint related to enterprise coverage and FLSA individual coverage, but it appears, based on the pretrial stipulation and the failure to oppose summary judgment, that Defendants may no longer wish to contest these issues, at least not at this stage.5 However, the Court’s inquiry cannot end there. ,

Even where a local rule allows for motions to be granted by default, such as Local Rule 7.1(c) in this district, that rule cannot form the sole basis.for granting a summary judgment motion. United States v. One Piece of Real Prop. Located at 5800 74th Ave., Miami, Fla., 363 F.3d 1099, 1102 (11th Cir.2004) (“local rules cannot provide that summary judgment by default is appropriate.”); see also Dunlap v. Transamerica Occidental Life Ins. Co., 858 F.2d 629, 632 (11th Cir.1988) (upholding summary judgment because ruling was supported by evidentiary materials of record and not solely based on the non-movant’s failure to oppose the motion). Instead, the Court takes all reason[1287]*1287able inferences in favor of the non-moving party — the Defendants here. Scantland v. Jeffry Knight, Inc.,

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Bluebook (online)
101 F. Supp. 3d 1282, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52179, 2015 WL 1810596, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mendoza-v-discount-cv-joint-rack-pinion-rebuilding-inc-flsd-2015.