Wirtz v. Aire Frio, S.A.

304 F. Supp. 693, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8438
CourtDistrict Court, Canal Zone
DecidedJanuary 23, 1968
DocketCiv. A. No. 6400
StatusPublished

This text of 304 F. Supp. 693 (Wirtz v. Aire Frio, S.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, Canal Zone primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wirtz v. Aire Frio, S.A., 304 F. Supp. 693, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8438 (canalzoned 1968).

Opinion

CROWE, District Judge.

This cause was brought by W. Willard Wirtz, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor, under Section 17 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended (29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.), hereinafter referred to as the Act, to enjoin defendant Aire Frio, S. A., a corporation, from violating the provisions of Section 15(a) (2) of the Act, including the restraint of any withholding of minimum wages and overtime compensation found by the Court to be due to employees of the defendant under the Act.

The case came on before the Court on January 23, 1968, at Balboa, Canal Zone, plaintiff being represented by Morton J. Marks and defendant by Woodrow de Castro. Having considered the stipulations of fact entered into by the parties in open court and evidence related thereto, arguments and statements of counsel, the pleadings, plaintiff's interroga[694]*694tories and defendant’s answers thereto, and being otherwise fully advised in the premises, the Court does hereby now make and enter, pursuant to Rule 52 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law as follows:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Plaintiff, W. Willard Wirtz, hereinafter referred to as plaintiff, is and at all times hereinafter mentioned was the duly appointed Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor, charged with the duties, responsibilities, and authority vested in him by the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended (52 Stat. 1060, as amended; 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.), hereinafter referred to as the Act.

2. Defendant Aire Frio, S. A., is, and at all times hereinafter mentioned was, a Panamanian corporation, engaged in the construction business both in the Republic of Panama, and in the Canal Zone.

3. a. During the period from September 25, 1965 to August 30, 1967, defendant has been the employer of approximately 56 employees engaged in the construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair, alteration, and modification of structures and facilities located within the Canal Zone, which structures and facilities are essential to the efficient use and defense of the Panama Canal and said Canal Zone.

b. During the period from September 25, 1965 to August 30, 1967, defendant has also been the employer of employees engaged in the construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair, alteration, and modification of structures and facilities located in the Republic of Panama.

e. At all times hereinabove mentioned, the business activities of defendant referred to in subparagraphs “a” and “b” hereof were and are related and were and are performed as a unified operation under common control for a common business purpose, and defendant had and has an annual gross volume from the aforesaid construction and reconstruction business of not less than $350,000.00.

d. The business activities described in subparagraph “c” hereof constitute an enterprise engaged in commerce within the meaning of Sections 3(r) and 3 (s) of the Act.

4. a. During the period from September 25, 1965 to August 30, 1967, defendant has violated the provisions of Sections 6 and 15(a) (2) of the Act by paying to certain of its employees during workweeks in which they were engaged in commerce and in the production of goods for commerce within the meaning of the Act wages at rates less than those prescribed by the Act.

b. During the period since September 25, 1965, defendant has violated the provisions of Sections 6 and 15(a) (2) of the Act by paying to certain of its employees during workweeks in which they were engaged in an enterprise engaged in commerce and in the production of goods for commerce within the meaning of the Act wages at rates less than those prescribed by the Act.

5. a. During the period from September 25, 1965 to August 30, 1967, defendant has violated the provisions of Sections 7(a) (1) and 15(a) (2) of the Act by employing certain of its employees in commerce and in the production of goods for commerce within the meaning of the Act for workweeks longer than forty (40) hours without compensating said employees for their employment in excess of forty (40) hours a week at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate or rates at which they were employed.

b. During the period since September 25, 1965, defendant has violated the provisions of Sections 7(a) (2) and 15(a) (2) of the Act by employing many of its employees in an enterprise engaged in commerce and in the production of goods for commerce within the meaning of the Act for workweeks longer than forty (40) hours without compensating such employees for their employ[695]*695ment in excess of forty (40) hours during each such workweek at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate or rates at which they were employed.

6. As a result of the practices referred to in Findings of Fact Nos. 4 and 5 hereof, there is due and owing from defendant to its following named employees unpaid wages for the period beginning September 25, 1965 and ending August 30, 1967, in the amounts set forth opposite their names, in the total sum of $4,442.44, to wit:

NAME TOTAL AMOUNT FOUND DUE

Alfredo Almanza Barrios $ 14.29

Alfredo Almanza (Padre) 178.11

Alberto Arturo Ardine 93.68

Alfredo Arosemena 301.04

Luciano Avila 826.44

Alvaro Bonilla 57.95

Luis Castillo 8.40

Carlos Contreras Pinel 49.22

Jose Pablo de Gracia 5.22

Ricardo de Leon 28.02

Jose P. Diaz 1,004.05

Agustín Dominguez 14.94

Cirilo Dominguez 38.32

Alcibiades Endara 61.82

Federico Folks 39.46

Alberto Fossatti 172.99

Manuel E. Guevara 13.55

Jose Maria Fossatti 129.42

Francisco Lopez 88.53

Agileo Marin 29.42

Guillermo Mendez 7.51

Ricardo Moro 198.63

Rogelio Munoz 139.89

Clovis E. Nunez 258.63

Justino Olmos 32.33

Humberto Padilla Hernandez 28.79

Gregorio Perez 34.82

Jose Quintana 7.62

Cristobal Rodriguez 11.82

Jose Rosales 17.51

Emilio Samuels 95.48

Aquilino Santa Maria 223.82

Roberto Sevillano 12.65

Elias Sosa 50.58

Guillermo Thompson 16.52

Joaquin Ubarte 60.35

Carlos Vazquez 5.00

Virgilio Vazquez 74.45

Erasmo Vega 11.17

7. The unpaid wages referred to in Finding of Fact No. 6 hereof represent the difference between the total amounts of wages paid by defendant and the total amounts of wages which defendant should have paid to each of the employees enumerated in Finding of Fact No. 6 hereof.

8.

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Bluebook (online)
304 F. Supp. 693, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8438, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wirtz-v-aire-frio-sa-canalzoned-1968.