URSULA UNGARO, District Judge.
THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, filed on June 17, 2010. (D.E. 39.) Plaintiff filed a Response on July 9, 2010.
THE COURT has considered the Motion and the pertinent portions of the record and is otherwise fully advised in the premises.
Plaintiff Gustavo Collado claims his employers, Defendants Florida Cleanex, Inc. ("Cleanex") and Luis Loaiza, failed to pay him overtime wages as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-216 (2006).
Accordingly, on October 30, 2009, Collado filed his one-count Complaint in this Court against Cleanex and Loaiza under § 216(B), seeking payment of owed overtime wages and other available damages. (D.E. 1.) Collado claims that Cleanex was his employer and that Loaiza controlled the day-to-day operations of Cleanex. (D.E. 1.)
Prior to filing this Complaint, Collado sought to join a similar action against these Defendants. (Case No. 1:09-cv-21569-UU, D.E. 15.) However, summary judgment was granted in favor of these Defendants in that action before the complaint was amended to join Collado.
As they did in the previous action against them, Defendants now move for summary judgment on the grounds that there is no FLSA coverage. Additionally, Defendants argue they are entitled to summary judgment: under the doctrines of res judicata or collateral estoppel relating to the summary judgment in the previous action; because Collado was properly paid for any overtime hours worked; and, because even if Collado was unpaid for some overtime, he admits to having no knowledge of the extent of his unpaid overtime. Collado contends Defendants are not entitled to summary judgment.
The facts are not in dispute. Cleanex is a commercial cleaning company which provides janitorial services in several South Florida counties. (D.E. 41-1, 5-6.) Loaiza is the owner and President of Cleanex and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of Cleanex and the supervision of its employees. (D.E. 22-4, 4; 39-1 ¶ 1; 41-1, 18-19.) Collado was employed by Cleanex as a cleaning laborer from February to October 2009. (D.E. 22-4, 5;39-1.)
Cleanex has roughly 100 employees and services 25 to 30 buildings, but maintains only one office. (D.E. 41-1, 6 & 37.) Cleanex performs no services and sends no invoices outside the state of Florida. (D.E. 22-7, 7; 39-1 ¶ 7.) Cleanex maintains an account at a local bank and does not accept credit card payments. (D.E. 41-1, 14 & 32.) However, Cleanex does send out-of-state payments to two vehicle financing companies and pays various other bills on-line. (D.E. 22-7, 8-19.) And from February through May of 2009, Cleanex made several out-of-state phone calls.
Cleanex grossed more than $500,000 in 2007 and 2008 and $125,000 during the first three months of 2009. (D.E. 41-7.)
Summary judgment is authorized under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure ("Rule") 56 only when the moving party meets its burden of demonstrating that "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." When determining whether the moving party has met this burden, the court must view the evidence and all factual inferences in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970); Rojas v. Florida, 285 F.3d 1339, 1341-42 (11th Cir.2002).
The party opposing the motion may not simply rest upon mere allegations or denials of the pleadings; after the moving party has met its burden of proving that no genuine issue of material fact exists, the non-moving party must make a sufficient showing to establish the existence of an essential element to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Poole v. Country Club of Columbus, Inc., 129 F.3d 551, 553 (11th Cir.1997); Barfield v. Brierton, 883 F.2d 923, 933 (11th Cir.1989). If the record presents factual issues, the court must not decide them; it must deny the motion and proceed to trial. Envtl. Def. Fund v. Marsh, 651 F.2d 983, 991 (5th Cir.1981).
Moreover, the party opposing a motion for summary judgment need not respond to it with evidence unless and until the movant has properly supported the motion with sufficient evidence. Adickes, 398 U.S. at 160, 90 S.Ct. 1598. The moving party must demonstrate that the facts underlying all the relevant legal questions raised by the pleadings or otherwise are not in
Defendants first argue they are entitled to summary judgment because no FLSA coverage exists. Section 207(a)(1) requires employers to provide overtime pay for any employee "who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce." The question of whether an employee falls within the scope of § 207(a)(1) is commonly phrased as whether FLSA "coverage" exists. See, e.g., Thorne v. All Restoration Servs., Inc., 448 F.3d 1264, 1266 (11th Cir.2006). And as the text of the statute suggests, § 207(a)(1) provides for two forms of coverage: (1) individual coverage and (2) enterprise coverage. See id. at 1265-66. An employee seeking overtime pay under FLSA, must establish one or the other form. See id.
Defendants argue no individual coverage exists because Collado was employed as a cleaner for a local cleaning business and did not work with or produce any goods in interstate commerce.
The evidence that Collado was not engaged in commerce is undisputed.
Id. at 1267 (citations omitted); see also 29 C.F.R. §§ 776.8-.13, .23 (2009). Collado did not work for an instrumentality of interstate commerce, but for a local cleaning company. And the locally-purchased cleaning products which he regularly used are not instrumentalities of interstate commerce regardless of their origin. See, e.g., id. at 1267 (holding no individual coverage existed where employee used locally-purchased tools which may have crossed state lines); Tapia, 2009 WL 3246121 at *3 (same holding as to locally-purchased cleaning products).
Similarly, the evidence that Collado was not engaged in the production of goods for commerce is undisputed. "Employees whose work is closely related to and directly essential to the production of goods
Defendants argue no enterprise coverage exists because they operated a local cleaning company and purchased all of their supplies in-state. Enterprise coverage exists when an employer
See 29 U.S.C. § 203(s)(1). Defendants concede they had a gross volume of sales of more than $500,000 at all relevant times. Thus, only the first part of the test is at issue.
Collado argues a genuine issue of fact exists as to the first part of the test because the evidence demonstrates that: he and other employees regularly used cleaning products from out of state; Defendants made out-of-state payments to two vehicle financing companies and various other online payments; and, Defendants made phone calls to various out-of-state locations.
First, Collado fails to demonstrate an issue of fact as to whether Defendants' employees "handled ... goods or materials... that have been moved in commerce" because he submits no evidence that Defendants purchased cleaning products from out of state. Collado's evidence that the products were of out-of-state origin is immaterial to the question of enterprise coverage because Defendants submit undisputed evidence that the products were purchased locally. "Where an enterprise acquired from within the state the goods or materials used by its employees and has no role in causing goods or materials to move in interstate commerce to employees for their use in business, enterprise coverage is not triggered." Flores v. Nuvoc, Inc., 610 F.Supp.2d 1349, 1354 (S.D.Fla.2008); see also 29 U.S.C. § 203(i) (defining goods as "goods, wares, products, commodities, merchandise, or articles or subjects of commerce of any character,
Second, Collado fails to demonstrate an issue of fact as to whether Defendants' employees engaged in commerce on a regular and recurrent basis. Evidence that a local cleaning company which provides only local services, makes out-of-state telephone calls and payments to two national vehicle financing companies and various other on-line payments is insufficient to establish that it engaged in commerce on a regular and recurrent basis. See, e.g., Tapia, 2009 WL 3246121; Bien-Aime, 572 F.Supp.2d at 1315 (holding that defendant, a local gardening business, was not engaged in commerce merely because it "advertises its business on the internet, uses telephones, fax machines, and credit cards issued from national banks in the operation of its business, and maintains bank accounts with national banks for businessrelated financial transactions"); Polycarpe v. E & S Landscaping Serv., Inc., 572 F.Supp.2d 1318, 1321-22 (S.D.Fla.2008) ("[T]he few out-of-state calls (sporadic and isolated in nature) that were perhaps business related fail to satisfy the `engaged in commerce' requirement, as matter of law, because they were not regular and recurrent activities.") (citations omitted). "That the Defendant ... provided services of an exclusively local nature is dispositive." Id. Thus, Plaintiff fails to demonstrate a genuine issue of fact as to the existence of coverage under FLSA.
Therefore, the Court will grant summary judgment in favor of Defendants without reaching the remainder of their arguments. Accordingly, it is
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Motion for Summary Judgment (D.E. 39) is GRANTED. The Court will separately enter its Final Summary Judgment. It is further
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Clerk of Court SHALL administratively close this case. It is further