Vallejo v. Garda CL Southwest, Inc.

56 F. Supp. 3d 862, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137418, 2014 WL 4851906
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedSeptember 29, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. H-12-0555
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 56 F. Supp. 3d 862 (Vallejo v. Garda CL Southwest, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vallejo v. Garda CL Southwest, Inc., 56 F. Supp. 3d 862, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137418, 2014 WL 4851906 (S.D. Tex. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND OPINION

LEE H. ROSENTHAL, District Judge.

Jason Winn and Karlnetta Coleman worked as armored-car driver/messenger/guards for Garda CL Southwest (Garda) from 2003 to 2010 (Winn) and 2011 to 2012 (Coleman). Winn and Coleman transported coins, currency, checks, and other valuables between Garda’s Houston facility and other locations around Houston. Routine stops included various commercial banks that receive checks, currency, and coins from the Houston Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). Winn and Coleman, with others, sued Garda under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-19, seeking overtime pay under the Act, certification of a collective action, and damages for state-law claims. (Docket Entry Nos. 33, 63).

After discovery, Garda moved for summary judgment, (Docket Entry No. 71), arguing that the Motor Carrier Act ex-, emption, 29 U.S.C. § 213(b)(1), which absolves certain employers from complying with the FLSA’s overtime provisions, applies to armored-car driver/messenger/guards like the plaintiffs because they transport checks, currency, and coins in interstate commerce. The plaintiffs contend that they transported these items intrastate and did not have the interstate-commerce connection the Motor Carrier Act requires.

The court heard oral argument on the motion and allowed the parties to supplement their submissions. Based on the pleadings, the motion, response, and the parties’ submissions, the record, and the applicable law, the court grants Garda’s motion for summary judgment on the plaintiffs’ FLSA claims, declines to exercise jurisdiction over the remaining state-law claims, and denies the motion to certify a collective action as moot. A dismissal order is separately entered. The reasons are stated in detail below.

I. Background

A. Factual Background

1. Garda

Garda is a contract carrier. It provides storage, processing, distribution, and transportation for currency, coins, checks, and other valuables for financial institutions and retailers. Garda and its armored-car drivers, who also serve as messengers and guards, are subject to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requirements and regulations. Garda is responsible for verifying that its covered employees are authorized under the FMCSA to drive Garda’s vehicles. Garda’s driver/messenger/guards must operate, load, and unload Garda’s [865]*865armored vehicles according to the FMCSA safety standards.

Garda’s driver/messenger/guards drive armored vehicles loaded with currency, coins, checks, and other valuables between Garda’s local Houston facility and its customers’ financial institutions, ATM locations, and retail establishments in Houston. The customers include the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, Chase, IBC Bank, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and PNC Bank. Garda’s Houston facility often receives checks, currency, and coins delivered by its driver/messenger/guards from the Houston Federal Reserve branch. Although Garda’s drivers did not always pick up and deliver from the Federal Reserve, they could be called to do so on any given day. Any driver/messenger/guard could be assigned either the driver or messenger/guard role for any route or assignment on any given day, at Garda’s discretion. Assignments were subject to change based on Garda’s business needs.

Garda’s Houston facility used armored vehicles for two types of routes, “Commercial Routes” and “ATM Routes.” (Docket Entry No. 71-2, Ex. 1 ¶¶ 11-12, App. 3). On Commercial Routes, the driver/messenger/guards picked up currency, coin, and checks from customers’ retail locations for deposit in financial institutions. The driver/messenger/guards then transported and delivered the currency, coin, and checks either directly to the designated financial institution or to Garda’s Houston facility. Currency, coin, and checks received at Garda’s Houston facility from the Commercial Route were then transported and delivered to the designated financial institution by Garda’s driver/messenger/guards. On these Commercial Routes, driver/messenger/guards regularly, and at least weekly, transported hundreds of checks, including checks from banks outside of the State of Texas.

On the ATM Routes, the driver/messenger/guards transported the currency to be dispensed from ATMs to and from Garda’s Houston facility and the ATMs. The driver/messenger/guards on the ATM route picked up deposits from ATMs, including currency and checks, before transporting and delivering these deposits to Garda’s facility. From there, the currency and checks were delivered to, or picked up by, the designated financial institution. Driver/messenger/guards on these ATM Routes regularly and frequently — again, at least weekly — transported hundreds of checks, including checks from banks outside of the State of Texas.

2. The Plaintiffs

Winn and Coleman are the plaintiffs remaining in this action. Both worked as driver/messenger/guards at Garda. Both testified during their depositions that when they were working as messengers on a route, they were also acting as the “crew leader” or “crew chief.” (See, e.g., Docket Entry No. 71-2, Ex. 2,' 40:24-25; Ex. 3, 161:19-22, App. 27, 115). Coleman testified that as crew leaders, “we were responsible for the route, most — we were both responsible for what happened on the route, but being the crew leader, you’re— you’re pretty much the one who says where we’re going, how we’re going to run the route, which way we’re going to go next_” (Docket Entry No. 71-2, Ex. 3 at 161:22-25, 162:1-3, App. 115-116). Winn testified that his job as the crew chief was to manage and run the route. (Id. 71-2, Ex. 2 at 79:11-20, App. 62).

Coleman testified ,in her deposition that she primarily served on ATM Routes. She testified that she commonly picked up hundreds of checks from Chase ATMs and delivered them to Chase banks. (Id. 71, Ex. 3 at 64:1-16, 68:1-3, App. 100-01). [866]*866Winn testified in his deposition that he primarily worked on Commercial Routes. During the last five years of his employment, he picked up cash and checks every week from approximately 250 locations for transportation to, and deposit with, various financial institutions. (Id. 71-2, Ex. 2 at 75:11-23, App. 61). Neither plaintiff recalled picking up currency directly from the Federal Reserve, but both recognized the likelihood that the currency they transported had passed through the Federal Reserve. Coleman acknowledged in her deposition that the cash she loaded into her Garda vehicle and transported from Garda to ATMs on a daily basis came from the Federal Reserve. (Id., Ex. 3 at 169:14-17, App. 118). She later clarified that she “assumed it came from the Federal Reserve.” (Id., Ex. 3 at 170:3-14, App. 119). Winn recalled seeing some “coins that might have gone to the Federal Reserve Bank” and delivering and picking up cash from Chase ATMs. (Id., Ex. 2 at 52:13-17, 105:17-19, App. -39, 74). Garda’s branch manager testified that the cash delivered to Chase ATMs would include currency that Garda received “in its original and unopened packages from the Federal Reserve.” (Id., Ex. 1 ¶ 14, App. 3).

B.

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56 F. Supp. 3d 862, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137418, 2014 WL 4851906, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vallejo-v-garda-cl-southwest-inc-txsd-2014.