Wessling v. Carroll Gas Company

266 F. Supp. 795, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11482
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Iowa
DecidedMarch 1, 1967
DocketCiv. 65-C-2007-C
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 266 F. Supp. 795 (Wessling v. Carroll Gas Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wessling v. Carroll Gas Company, 266 F. Supp. 795, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11482 (N.D. Iowa 1967).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

HANSON, District Judge.

This action was commenced by Cyril Wessling against Carroll Gas Company, Division of Northern Propane Gas Company, Carroll, Iowa, claiming overtime pay by virtue of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 201 et seq., for the years 1962, 1963, and 1964.

Carroll Gas Company is a division of Northern Propane Gas Company, a Delaware corporation. It existed as an independent corporation until 1962 when it was dissolved and bought by Northern Propane. Carroll Gas Company was owned by Northern Propane during the time in question. It engages in the retail sale of propane gas in bottles and in bulk. 1 Its sales during the years in question included retail sales of appliances. About 50% of the appliances received at Carroll were sold there. A relatively small proportion of its total sales volume was attributable to wholesale sales of propane gas and appliances. No appliances were sold for resale in 1964.

Carroll Gas Company has two back rooms which were utilised as storage space for shipments of appliances received from out of state. These shipments came by.rail and by truck. A stipulation entered into by the parties shows that four shipments were unloaded in 1962, four were unloaded in 1963, and three were unloaded in 1964. Each shipment had an approximate value of four or five thousand dollars.

Carroll Gas Company served as a distribution point for appliances to other Northern Propane affiliates in the surrounding area. Carroll Gas Company was more centrally located in relation to the other districts. The appliances going to other dealers were transferred out by truck usually, although some were delivered by Carroll Gas Company to a few locations including Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Generally, the appliances were removed from the Carroll Gas Company premises shortly after their arrival. Sometimes, however, they were not picked up right away.. On several occasions appliances were shipped out of state.

Plaintiff Wessling was primarily employed in the capacity of “cylinder driver” during the years in question. As a “cylinder driver,” he delivered full propane bottles, picked up the empties, and got them refilled. He also had other duties including helping to deliver bulk gas which came to Carroll from out of state and he aided in shifting and loading appliances. The stipulation shows that he helped unload appliances four times in 1962, four times in 1963, and once in 1964. He testified that he assisted in loading “at least every week.”

Two letters from the Regional Director of the Department of Labor in response to inquiries made by Mr. Dean W. Wallace, head counsel for Northern Propane, were introduced into evidence. They show that defendant’s Carroll Gas Division was found to be within the Act’s coverage and its employees were not exempt. The Company agreed to comply in the future but refused to pay back wages.

One principal question is presented in this litigation: Was Carroll Gas Company during the years in dispute an exempt retail establishment under Title 29, U.S.C.A. § 213(a) (2)?

It appears to be undisputed that the plaintiff comes within Sections 206 and 207 and that the nature of the warehouse operation in and of itself comes within traditional concepts of “interstate commerce.” Nor could it be disputed. See Walling v. Jacksonville Paper Co., 317 U.S. 564, 63 S.Ct. 332, 87 L.Ed. 460 (1943); Wirtz v. First State Abstract and Insurance Company, 362 F.2d 83 (8th Cir.).

*798 Turning now to the principal issue of the case, this Court finds that Section 213(a) (2) does not bar recovery.’ There is no question that the retail facets of the business of Carroll Gas Company meet the percentage requirements of Section 213(a) (2). But Carroll Gas Company consists of two establishments, one of which is exempt and one of which is not exempt.

Section 213(a) (2) reads as follows:

“(a) The provisions of sections 206 and 207 of this title shall not apply with respect to— * * *

(2) any employee employed by any retail or service establishment, more than 50 per centum of which establishment’s annual dollar volume of sales of goods or services is made within the State in which the establishment is located, if such establishment * * *

(iv) is in such an enterprise and has an annual dollar volume of sales (exclusive of excise taxes at the retail level which are separately stated) which is less than $250,000.
A ‘retail or service establishment’ shall mean an establishment 75 per centum of whose annual dollar volume of sales of goods or services (or of both) is not for resale and is recognized as retail sales or services in the particular industry”.

The Congressional mandate of policy found in Title 29 U.S.C.A., § 202, declares :

“The Congress finds that the existence, in industries engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, of labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standard cf living necessary for health, efficiency, and general well-being of workers (1) causes commerce and the channels and instrumentalities of commerce to be used to spread and perpetuate such labor conditions among the workers of the several States; (2) burdens commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce; (3) constitutes an unfair method of competition in commerce; (4) leads to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce; and (5) interferes with the orderly and fair marketing of goods in commerce.”

It is well settled that an employer seeking to exempt his employees under Section 213(a) (2) has the burden of proving “plainly and unmistakenly” that his employees are exempt and that the provisions of the exemption statute are to be narrowly construed. See Arnold v. Ben Kanowsky, Inc., 361 U.S. 388, 80 S.Ct. 453, 4 L.Ed.2d 393 (1960); Walling v. General Industries Co., 330 U.S. 545, 67 S.Ct. 883, 91 L.Ed. 1088 (1947); A. H. Phillips, Inc. v. Walling, 324 U.S. 490, 65 S.Ct. 807, 89 L.Ed. 1095 (1945); Mitchell v. Kroger Company, 248 F.2d 935 (8th Cir.). It should be recognized that the nature and character of the employer’s business is the controlling feature under Sections 213(a) (2), (3), and (4). Mitchell v. Kroger Company, supra; Title 29 C.F. R., Section 779.302 (Supp.1966).

It is argued that the Administrator’s Interpretative Bulletin, Title 29 C.F.R., Section 779.305 (Supp.1966) brings plaintiff under the retail exemption of Section 213(a) (2) in that Carroll Gas Company is one establishment. Section 779.305 provides:

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266 F. Supp. 795, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11482, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wessling-v-carroll-gas-company-iand-1967.