Watkins v. City of Montgomery

919 F. Supp. 2d 1254, 2013 WL 324025, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11549
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Alabama
DecidedJanuary 29, 2013
DocketCase No. 2:11-CV-158-MEF
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 919 F. Supp. 2d 1254 (Watkins v. City of Montgomery) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Watkins v. City of Montgomery, 919 F. Supp. 2d 1254, 2013 WL 324025, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11549 (M.D. Ala. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MARK E. FULLER, District Judge.

Roosevelt Watkins (“Watkins”), a Lieutenant in the Division of Fire Suppression (“Suppression Division”) of the Montgomery Fire Department (“MFD”), brings this collective action pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 207(a) (hereinafter “FLSA” or the “Act”), against his employer, the City of Montgomery (the “City”), seeking overtime compensation to which he claims he is entitled. Specifically, Watkins contends that he is entitled to overtime compensation as a non-exempt “first responder,” pursuant to the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) “first responder” regulation, 29 C.F.R. § 541.3(b). This cause is now before the Court on the Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. # 65) filed by the City on October 25, 2012. For the reasons set forth in this Memorandum Opinion and Order, the motion is due to be DENIED.

I. Procedural Background

On March 7, 2011, Watkins filed suit against the City of Montgomery, alleging that, at all times relevant to this action, [1256]*1256the City employed him as a Fire Suppression Lieutenant with the MFD Suppression Division. He further alleges that the City failed to pay him mandatory overtime compensation for each hour he worked in excess of 106 hours in a fourteen-day pay period, as required by the FLSA. See 29 U.S.C. § 207(k). The City asserts affirmative defenses under the executive and administrative exemptions to the FLSA’s overtime requirements. See 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1).

On July 14, 2011, Watkins moved to have this matter conditionally certified as a collective action pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). (Doc. #47.) Over the City’s objection, the Court conditionally certified this matter as a collective action (see Order, Doc. # 51),1 and several other MFD Fire Suppression Lieutenants have since joined this lawsuit.2

In its Motion for Summary Judgment, the City argues that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law because Plaintiffs fall within the executive and administrative exemptions to the FLSA overtime pay requirements. Having carefully considered the submissions in support of and in opposition to the City’s motion, as well as the applicable law and the record as a whole, the Court disagrees, and the motion is due to be DENIED.

II. Jurisdiction and Venue

Jurisdiction over the claims in this action is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (federal question) and 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), the collective action provision of the FLSA. The parties do not contest personal jurisdiction or venue, and the Court finds adequate allegations in support of both.

III. Summary Judgment Standard

Under Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment is appropriate “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine [dispute] as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The party asking for summary judgment “always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of ‘the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any,’ which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The movant can meet this burden by presenting evidence showing there is no dispute of material fact, or by showing the nonmoving party has failed to present evidence in support of some element of its case on which it bears the ultimate burden of proof. Id. at 322-23,106 S.Ct. 2548.

Entitlement to an overtime exemption under the FLSA is an affirmative defense upon which a defendant bears the burden of proof. Morgan v. Family Dollar Stores, Inc., 551 F.3d 1233, 1269 (11th Cir.2008). A defendant may prevail on a motion for summary on an affirmative defense, such as an entitlement to an exemp[1257]*1257tion under the FLSA, when it has produced “credible evidence ... that would entitle it to a directed verdict if not controverted at trial.” See Celotex, 477 U.S. at 331, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The Supreme Court has established that an exemption from coverage under the FLSA must be narrowly construed. Phillips, Inc. v. Walling, 324 U.S. 490, 493, 65 S.Ct. 807, 89 L.Ed. 1095 (1945); see also Morgan, 551 F.3d at 1269. The overtime exemptions under the FLSA are to be applied only to those employees who are “plainly and unmistakably” within the terms and spirit of the Act. Phillips, 324 U.S. at 493, 65 S.Ct. 807.

Once the moving party has met its burden, Rule 56(e) “requires the nonmoving party to go beyond the pleadings and by [its] own affidavits, or by the depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, designate specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548 (internal quotations omitted). To avoid summary judgment, the non-moving party “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, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). On the other hand, a court ruling on a motion for summary judgment must believe the evidence of the non-movant and must draw all justifiable inferences from the evidence in the non-moving party’s favor. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). After the non-moving party has responded to the motion for summary judgment, the court must grant summary judgment if there is no genuine dispute of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

IV. Facts

The Court has carefully considered all the evidence submitted in support of and in opposition to the motion.

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Bluebook (online)
919 F. Supp. 2d 1254, 2013 WL 324025, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11549, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/watkins-v-city-of-montgomery-almd-2013.