Terwilliger v. Home of Hope, Inc.

21 F. Supp. 2d 1294, 4 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1661, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15103, 1998 WL 664415
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Oklahoma
DecidedMay 21, 1998
Docket96-C-1042-H
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 21 F. Supp. 2d 1294 (Terwilliger v. Home of Hope, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Terwilliger v. Home of Hope, Inc., 21 F. Supp. 2d 1294, 4 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1661, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15103, 1998 WL 664415 (N.D. Okla. 1998).

Opinion

ORDER

HOLMES, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on a motion for summary judgment (Docket # 55) by Defendant Home of Hope, Inc. (“Home of Hope”) and a motion for summary judgment contained in three volumes (Docket # 57, 58, 59) by the remaining Plaintiffs in this suit. Home of Hope seeks summary judgment regarding the claims for overtime compensation and use of the companionship services exemption by these Plaintiffs. A hearing was held in this matter on April 10, 1998. The Court also viewed two homes of Home of Hope clients on April 24,1998.

*1297 I

Summary judgment is appropriate where “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact,” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Windon Third Oil & Gas Drilling Partnership v. Federal Deposit Ins. Corp., 805 F.2d 342, 345 (10th Cir.1986), and “the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law,” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In Celotex, the Supreme Court stated:

[t]he plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.

477 U.S. at 322,106 S.Ct. 2548.

A party opposing a properly supported motion for summary judgment must offer evidence, in admissible form, of specific facts, Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e), sufficient to raise a “genuine issue of material fact.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (“The mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment.”). “Factual disputes that are irrelevant or unnecessary will not be counted.” Id. at 248,106 S.Ct. 2505.

Summary judgment is only appropriate if “there is [not] sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party.” Id. at 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505. The Supreme Court stated:

[t]he mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the plaintiffs position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff.

Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Thus, to defeat a summary judgment motion, the nonmovant “must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 585-86, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Anderson, 477 U.S. at 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (“[T]here is no issue for trial unless there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a.jury to return a verdict for that party. If the evidence is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted.”) (citations omitted).

In éssehce, the inquiry for the Court is “whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.” Id. at 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505. In its review, the Court construes the record in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. Boren v. Southwestern Bell Tel. Co., 933 F.2d 891, 892 (10th Cir.1991).

II

For purposes of this motion, the Court accepts as true the following facts agreed to by the parties:

1. This case arises out of a dispute regarding overtime wages originally filed by Plaintiff, Dale Jean Terwilliger, on November 12, 1996, on behalf of herself and all other similarly situated employees at Home of Hope.
2. On June 18, 1997, Plaintiffs counsel filed an Amended Complaint on behalf of 50 employees who wished to participate in this litigation.
3. Based on the companionship services exemption found at 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(15), certain personnel in the Supported Living Program, including Habilitation Training Specialists (“HTS”) personnel and House Managers, were not paid for overtime incurred during the relevant time.
4. Home of Hope’s Supported Living Pro- . gram provides services for adult clients with developmental disabilities.
5. The Plaintiffs involved in this lawsuit were employed in Home of Hope’s Supported Living Program either as HTS personnel or House Managers during the period of time from June 30,1994 to July 1,1996.
6. The job duties of an HTS worker include assisting clients with developmental disabilities with daily living needs, as well as providing incidental training and other support as needed.
*1298 7. The job duties of a house manager including supervising small groups of other HTS personnel working in the client’s home, as well as providing as- ' sistance to individual clients with daily living needs and training.
8. Home of Hope’s Supported Living Program has been in existence since 1989.
9. The services that Home of Hope provides to its clients are governed by a series of contracts with- the Oklahoma State Department of Human Services (“DHS”). These contracts require that individuals receiving services provided for by the contracts receive those services in a home owned or leased by the individual.
10. The majority of Home of Hope’s clients in its Supported Living Program are former residents of the His-som Memorial Center.
11. The clients currently range in age from approximately twenty-years old to fifty-years old, with an average age of thirty-nine.
12. The purpose of Home of Hope’s Supported Living Program is to provide supervision, habilitation, protection, incidental training and "assistance with the activities of daily living to these clients in their own homes.
13. At the time of filing of the motions, there were forty-five clients in the Supported Living Program residing in twenty-seven homes. Ten of the twenty-seven homes, or thirty-seven percent, have a single client.
14.

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21 F. Supp. 2d 1294, 4 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1661, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15103, 1998 WL 664415, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/terwilliger-v-home-of-hope-inc-oknd-1998.