Trapp v. O. Lee, LLC

918 F. Supp. 2d 911, 2013 WL 171812, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6741
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedJanuary 16, 2013
DocketCase No. 4:12CV717 CDP
StatusPublished

This text of 918 F. Supp. 2d 911 (Trapp v. O. Lee, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Trapp v. O. Lee, LLC, 918 F. Supp. 2d 911, 2013 WL 171812, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6741 (E.D. Mo. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CATHERINE D. PERRY, District Judge.

Plaintiff Michael Trapp worked as a drain operator/metal trades technician for defendant O. Lee, LLC, doing business as Drain Surgeons, LLC. Trapp alleges that defendants failed to pay him for his overtime and “on call” hours, and he brings claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Missouri Minimum Wage Law (MMWL), and Missouri common law. Defendants brought this motion to dismiss, seeking to limit Trapp’s common-law claims pursuant to Missouri’s two-year statute of limitations.

Missouri law distinguishes between regular, or straight time, wages and overtime wages. Overtime wages are paid for hours worked in excess of forty hours per week, and must be at a rate of not less than one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate. Mo.Rev.Stat. § 290.505(1). As set forth more fully below, Missouri law also distinguishes between straight time and overtime wages for statute of limitations purposes. Plaintiffs common-law claims can be read to seek damages based on straight time or overtime wages. I agree with defendants that Missouri’s two-year statute of limitations applies to all claims for overtime wages, but I agree with plaintiff that the longer five-year statute of limitations applies to the common-law claims to the extent they seek straight time wages. I will therefore deny defendants’ motion to dismiss to the extent that plaintiffs common-law claims seek regular or straight time wages.

Background

Drain Surgeons, LLC is a Missouri corporation that provides drain cleaning assistance to individuals and businesses throughout Eastern Missouri. Defendant Connie Grimes is the President of O. Lee, LLC, which purchased Drain Surgeons from defendant James Von Klemen in April of 2010.

Plaintiff Michael Trapp worked for Drain Surgeons as a drain opener and metal trades technician from August 1998 until August 15, 2011. Beginning in 2004, Trapp worked at the Drain Surgeons facility in Imperial, Missouri. Trapp alleges that until May 20, 2011, he worked without [913]*913pay during evenings and weekends for approximately twenty-five hours per week in addition to his regular forty hour work week. He further alleges that he performed work on an “on call basis” outside of both his regular hours and twenty-five overtime hours. During the “on call” time, Trapp was unable to use the time for personal pursuits, as he was required to respond to calls in a short amount of time, in uniform and with the company van, and he was unable to refuse a call. Trapp was not paid for his time spent “on call.”

Trapp filed this complaint alleging seven separate counts. Counts 1 and 2 allege violations of the FLSA and seek damages for the period three years before the filing of the complaint. Counts 3 and 4 allege violations of the MMWL and seek damages for two years before the filing of the complaint. Counts 5, 6, and 7 are for breach of contract, quantum meruit, and unjust enrichment, respectively, and seek damages “equal to all unpaid wages” due within five years before the filing of the complaint. Defendants filed this motion to dismiss, arguing that counts 5, 6, and 7 are subject to a two-year statute of limitations.

Discussion

A defendant may move to dismiss a claim “for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted” under Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). The purpose of a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) is to test the legal sufficiency of the complaint. When considering a 12(b)(6) motion, the factual allegations of a complaint are assumed true and are construed in favor of the plaintiff. Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 326, 109 S.Ct. 1827, 104 L.Ed.2d 338 (1989). “The possible existence of a statute of limitations defense is not ordinarily a ground for Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal unless the complaint itself establishes the defense.” Joyce v. Armstrong Teasdale, LLP, 635 F.3d 364, 367 (8th Cir.2011) (quoting Jessie v. Potter, 516 F.3d 709, 713 n. 2 (8th Cir.2008)).

There are two Missouri statutes of limitations dealing with the recovery of unpaid minimum wages and overtime compensation. The general two-year statute of limitations applies to:

An action for libel, slander, assault, battery, false imprisonment, criminal conversation, malicious prosecution or actions brought under section 290.140. An action by an employee for the payment of unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime compensation or liquidated damages by reason of the nonpayment of minimum wages or overtime compensation, and for the recovery of any amount under and by virtue of the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and amendments thereto, such act being an act of Congress, shall be brought within two years after the cause accrued.

Mo.Rev.Stat. § 516.140 (emphasis added). The Minimum Wage Law also contains its own two-year statute of limitations:

Any employer who pays any employee less wages than the wages to which- the employee is entitled under or by virtue of sections 290.500 to 290.530 shall be liable to the employee affected for the full amount of the wage rate and an additional equal amount as liquidated damages, less any amount actually paid to the employee by the employer and for costs and such reasonable attorney fees as may be allowed by the court or jury. The employee may bring any legal action necessary to collect the claim. Any agreement between the employee and the employer to work for less than the wage rate shall be no defense to the action. All actions for the collection of any deficiency in wages shall be commenced within two years of the accrual of the cause of action.

[914]*914Mo.Rev.Stat. § 290.527. Missouri’s five-year statute of limitations, however, applies to:

All actions upon contracts, obligations or liabilities, express or implied, except those mentioned in section 516.110 and except upon judgments or decrees of a court of record, and except where a different time is herein limited ...

Mo.Rev.Stat. § 516.120.

Although the two-year limitations period in § 516.140 applies to Trapp’s claims seeking overtime pay for breach of contract, quantum meruit, and unjust enrichment, the five-year statute of § 516.120 applies to the claims insofar as those claims seek recovery of regular or straight time wages. The two-year statute of limitations in § 290.527 does not apply because it applies only to claims arising under the MMWL for an employee who is paid less wages than required by §§ 290.500 to 290.530. The last sentence of § 290.527 creates a two-year statute of limitations for “[a]ll actions for the collection of any deficiency in wages.” Despite its broad language, this sentence must be read in the context of § 290.527 as a whole, which explicitly limits its application to actions arising under §§ 290.500 to 290.530.

Section 516.140, while not limited to claims arising under the MMWL, explicitly refers to actions for the payment of unpaid minimum wages or overtime compensation.

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Related

Neitzke v. Williams
490 U.S. 319 (Supreme Court, 1989)
Joyce v. Armstrong Teasdale, LLP
635 F.3d 364 (Eighth Circuit, 2011)
Jessie v. Potter
516 F.3d 709 (Eighth Circuit, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
918 F. Supp. 2d 911, 2013 WL 171812, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6741, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trapp-v-o-lee-llc-moed-2013.