Roche v. S-3 Pump Service, Inc.

154 F. Supp. 3d 441, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82, 2016 WL 51282
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Texas
DecidedJanuary 4, 2016
DocketCivil Action No. 5:15-CV-268-XR
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 154 F. Supp. 3d 441 (Roche v. S-3 Pump Service, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roche v. S-3 Pump Service, Inc., 154 F. Supp. 3d 441, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82, 2016 WL 51282 (W.D. Tex. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER

XAVIER RODRIGUEZ, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

On this date, the Court considered Plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment on the inapplicability of the Motor Carrier Act exemption (Docket No. 160); Defendants’ cross motion for partial summary judgment — Motor Carrier Act exemption (Docket No. 172); Plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment on the inapplicability of the Fluctuating Workweek Method of calculating damages (Docket No. 167); Defendants’ cross motion for-summary judgment on the FWW half-time multiplier as the proper method for calculating overtime (Docket No. 176); Plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment regarding the employer status of Malcolm H. Sneed (Docket No. 171); Defendants’ cross-motion for summary judgment regarding the employer status of Malcolm Sneed (Docket No. 174); Defendants’ motion for summary judgment regarding the employer status of Linda Sneed (Docket No. 174); and the various responses and replies.

I.

Standard of Review

When a party moves for summary judgment, the reviewing court shall grant the motion “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled, to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 66(a). A dispute about a material fact is genuine “if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). All reasonable doubts on questions of fact must be resolved in favor of the party opposing summary judgment. Evans v. City of Houston, 246 F.3d 344, 348 (5th Cir.2001) (citation omitted).

II.

Background

Plaintiffs bring this suit as a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201, et seq. S-3 Pump Service, Inc. provides products and services in the oil and gas industry in various states. Linda Sneed and Malcolm Sneed are the owners of the business. Plaintiffs claim they were improperly classified as exempt employees and not properly paid for any overtime hours they worked. Plaintiffs sought and this Court certified a class of former and current employees classified as Pump Supervisors (or Field Qpera-tors/Supervisors) in Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi and North Dakota. Plaintiffs sought and this Court also certified a class of former and current employees classified as Pump Assistants (or .Field [444]*444Hands/Assistant Operators) in Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi and North Dakota. Defendants argue, in part, that all or some of Plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the Motor Carrier Act (MCA).

In the alternative, Defendants argue that if the MCA exemption is not applicable, the Court should determine that any overtime pay should be calculated by using the fluctuating workweek multiplier of only one-half of the regular rate of pay. Plaintiffs argue that as a matter of law overtime pay should be calculated using the one and one-half times the regular rate of pay multiplier.

III.

Motor Carrier Act exemption

Section 207 of the FLSA requires an employer to pay overtime compensation to any employee working more than forty hours in a workweek. See 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1); Singer v. City of Waco, 324 F.3d 813, 818 (5th Cir.2003).

Under the Motor Carrier Act exemption, the provisions of 29 U.S.C. § 207, however, do not apply “with respect to — (1) any employee with respect to whom the Secretary of Transportation has power to establish qualifications and maximum hours of service pursuant to the provisions of section 31502 of Title 49....” 29 U.S.C. § 213.

Section 31502 provides that the DOT “may prescribe requirements for ... qualifications and maximum hours of service of employees of, and standards of equipment of, a motor private carrier, when needed to promote safety of operation.” 49 U.S.C. § 31502(b)(2).

The DOT may establish these requirements for employees who (1) are employed by carriers whose transportation of passengers or property by motor vehicle is subject to his jurisdiction under section 204 of the [MCA] ... and (2) engage in activities of a character directly affecting the safety of operation of motor vehicles in the transportation on the public highways of passengers or property in interstate or foreign commerce within the meaning of the [MCA], 29 C.F.R. § 782.2(a); see Songer v. Dillon Resources, Inc., 618 F.3d 467, 472 (5th Cir.2010). For the motor carrier exemption to apply ... [the employees] must meet both of these requirements. Barefoot v. Mid-Am. Dairymen, Inc., No. 93-1684, 1994 WL 57686, at *2 (5th Cir. Feb. 18, 1994) (per curiam) (unpublished).

Allen v. Coil Tubing Servs., L.L.C., 755 F.3d 279, 283 (5th Cir.2014).

On August 10, 2005, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act (“SAFETEA-LU”) went into effect. SAFETEA-LU changed the definitions of “motor carrier” and “private motor carrier.” See 49 U.S.C. § 31132. “Thus, this amendment restricted the Secretary’s regulatory authority — and thereby also narrowed the MCA exemption to the FLSA’s overtime requirements — to only those motor carriers and private motor carriers who operated “commercial motor vehicles (as defined in section 31132).” Albanil v. Coast 2 Coast, Inc., 444 Fed.Appx. 788, 794 (5th Cir.2011).

On June 6, 2008, Congress passed the SAFETEA-LU Technical Corrections Act (“TCA”). Section 305 of the TCA replaced “commercial motor vehicle” in the definitions of motor carrier and motor private carrier with “motor vehicle,” essentially returning the Secretary of Transportation’s authority to its pre-SAFETEA-LU scope. Albanil, 444 Fed.Appx. at 795. Section 306 of the TCA also addressed application of the FLSA’s overtime requirements going forward.

Accordingly, a “covered” employee, that is, one eligible for overtime wages, means:

[445]*445an individual — (1) who is employed by a motor carrier or motor private carrier (as such terms are defined by section 13102

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154 F. Supp. 3d 441, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82, 2016 WL 51282, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roche-v-s-3-pump-service-inc-txwd-2016.