# Petition for Writ of Certiorari — Six Flags Over Georgia, Ltd. v. Brennan

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## Record

- **Collection:** Supreme Court brief
- **Document type:** Petition for Writ of Certiorari
- **Published:** January 1, 1973
- **Citation:** 414 U.S. 827

## Text

028)

—_ 5° . TILED
\? EILE COPY MAY 29 1978

¢
| MICHAEL RODAK, JRC

In The

Supreme Court of the United States

October Term 1972

SIX FLAGS OVER GEORGIA, LTD.., and
GREAT SOUTHWEST ATLANTA CORP.,

Petitioners
v.
PETER J. BRENNAN, Secretary of

Labor, United States Department of Labor,
Respondent

PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

ARTHUR J. RIGGS
JOHNSON, BROMBERG. LEEDS &
RIGGS,
ISth Floor, 211 N. Ervay.
Dallas, Texas 75201
Counsel for Petitioners

i
INDEX

Page
RE eT TN TE NR TD l
ERE TRIED EONS NE ES Re nn Ne 2
Ee re eee WB snc ssncccsecssescncenssescsecctonses 2
UI I cae cis alist couacel 3
PRAT Ree CO WOU CAR oon oac a ccevivcceeccccvcccceccscscoces 4
REASONS FOR GRANTING THE WRIT...................... 8
a 18

APPENDIX **A*’°—OPINIONS IN THE LOWER
SREP TEST OR RISE RCE CR Paras a OR IC a 19
APPENDIX **B’’-—STATUTORY PROVISIONS............ 34

APPENDIX **C’’—OPINION OF U. S. COURT
OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIR-

CUIT—
HODGSON V. COLONNADES. INC..
Et..
WE PE Mivincncgchadevinensarepicunscsinunnecni’ 45
INDEX OF CITATIONS
Dases:
4. H. Phillips, Inc. v. Walling,
ee A caine acicbbekanicisichanneesanentcsewontsts 15
Addison et al v. Holly Hill Fruit Products,
ne TE 8.9
Jodgson v. Colonnades, Inc., 472 F. 2d 42
ns Seria cetenanianduniichiinilaiiicenckwnenescats 5,7. 8, 15
Kirschbaum Co. v. Walling, 316 U.S. S17,
iat eilontniaseraitncusianernibinanmniaksdneuiineaeneaenreeonrcceoes 8
AcComb v. Hunt Foods, Inc., 167 F. 2d, 905
(CA 9, 1948), cert. den. 335 U.S. 845 (1948) ...........000.. 11
Mitchell v. Stinson, 217 F. 2d 210
il acs ace naremceipaiied 12
Malling v. Connecticut Co., 62 F. Supp. 733
(D.C. Conn. 1945), affirmed 154 F. 2d, 552
(CA 2, 1946), cert. den. 329 U.S. 667 (1947) 000... 13

NE sialisaiciacaiil

il
Statutes and Regulations:
Nc ETD cap vokissadacanienuiseisscisdtpindiwecboacis essen: 2

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, Public
Law 89-601, C. 676. 75th Cong., 3rd Sess..
52 Stat. 1060, as amended, 29 U.S.

a I occ emer ee a irda 3
EC SRE AIDE iat MSc iT sels te ESE SOR 8
a 2 Oe ea 4, 18
I a a eee, Sate as 7
SEER ee RRR De DEER MERE LURAY Pict a) el Laer 18
NS aE NCR RA RT OAS HORS MOP Ne CIOS, .
Sy BAITS ETE RRR ST TRE RT SENN a en 8
I a ie ee 16
ES RTE ae, 8) ee
REN AANA AE MN eI RON ER Rr? 4
I 8 i eo eee ee 3
een
I hd ot Ae 4
LEI aT hc PPD EN MCRAE MRS, 4
2 SRAER Ai eos EST Seen Oe TT Pe eT EE Lee 4
Miscellaneous:

Administrator of Wage and Hour Division

interpretative Bulletin No. 6................ccccssccccsseessceess 13
C.C.H. Labor Law Reporter, | Wages

A I i ne a naauedianesas 15
yg 8 Reber en aieli RRR pees len DO eee ae AA: 14
UPI TE pose OO cc te 14
HR Report No. 75, 87th Congress, Ist Session,

I i da re et 7

Errata

Statement "(Exhibit A Omitted)"
appearing at p. 33 should appear at p. 29.

ens , ; PL RAG CAI
ake se ee
a aa

In The

Supreme Court of the United States

October Term, 1972

No.

SIX FLAGS OVER GEORGIA, LTD.. and
GREAT SOUTHWEST ATLANTA CORP..,
Petitioners
Vv.

PETER J. BRENNAN, Secretary of Labor,
United States Department of Labor,
Respondent

PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

The Petitioners pray that a Writ of Certiorari issue to
review the judgment and opinion of the United States Court
of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit entered in the above case
on February 22, 1973.

OPINIONS BELOW

The opinion of the District Court for the Northern Dis-
trict of Georgia is unreported and is set forth at pages 45-50

2

of the printed Appendix! and Appendix *‘A*’ hereto. The
opinion of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, as
subsequently supplemented, is likewise set forth in Appen-
dix ‘‘A’’ hereto and is reported in 474 F. 2d 18 and in —~
F. 2d —.

JURISDICTION
The judgment of the Court of Appeals was entered Feb-
ruary 22, 1973. A supplement to its opinion together with
the denial of a timely petition for rehearing en banc was
entered April 10, 1973; this petition for certiorari is filed
within ninety (90) days of that date. The jurisdiction of this
Court is invoked under 28 U.S.C. §1254(1).

QUESTIONS PRESENTED
(1) Where an exemption under the Fair Labor Standards
Act of 1938, as amended, applies by its specific terms to
any employee employed by a particular type of business
establishment, may such an exemption nevertheless be con-
strued to apply only to such employee while he performs
certain types of work for such business establishment?

Specifically, is all construction and reconstruction work
performed by the employees of an exempt business estab-
lishment for such establishment nevertheless to be consid-
ered nonexempt work?

(2) Under what circumstances may a court by inter-
pretation alter the plain and unambiguous language of the
statutory exemption provisions of the Fair Labor Standards
Act to reach what it feels is a desirable social result?

1. References to the printed Appendix are referred to throughout this Petition by
the letter “R™’.

3
STATUTES INVOLVED

Pertinent provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938 Public Law 89-601, C. 676, 75th Cong., 3rd Sess., 52
Stat. 1060, as amended, 29 U.S. Code §201-219, are set
forth in Appendix **B’’, infra. The provisions particularly
involved in this case are contained in Section 13(a)(3) which
reads as follows:

‘*13(a) The provisions of Section 6. . .and Section 7
(governing Overtime and minimum wage) shall not ap-
ply with respect to— ...

**(3) any employee employed by an estab-
lishment which is an amusement or recreational
establishment, if (A) it does not operate for more
than seven months in any calendar year, or (B)
during the preceding calendar year, its average
receipts for any six months of such year were not
more than 33 4/3 per centum of its average
receipts for the other six months of such year; or

Other provisions of the Act which involve a common or
similar question of statutory construction are Section 13(a)
(9) which states that the overtime and minimum wage provi-
sions of the Act shall not apply to:

‘(9) any employee employed by an estab-
lishment which is a motion picture theater: or”’

Section 13(b)(8) which states that the overtime provisions
of the Act shall not apply to:

*(8) any employee employed by an _ estab-
lishment which is a hotel, motel, or restaurant; or
any employee who (A) is employed by an estab-

lishment which is an institution (other than a hos-
pital) primarily engaged in the care of the sick, the

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4

aged, or the mentally ill or defective who reside

on the premises, and (B) receives compensation

for employment in excess of forty-eight hours in

any workweek at a rate not iess than one and one-

half times the regular rate at which he is em-
ployed; or”

Section 13(b)(19) which staies that the overtime provi-

sions of the Act shall not apply to:

**(19) any employee of a bowling establishment

if such employee receives compensation for em-

ployment in excess of forty-eight hours in the

workweek at a rate not less than one and one-half
times the regular rate at which he is employed.”

See also Sections 13(a)(2) and (4) with respect to the re-
tail and service establishment exemption.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Suit was brought by the Secretary of Labor (hereinafter
called the “‘Secretary™’) against Petitioners to enjoin certain
alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938,
as amended, and to compel the payment of overtime to
certain employees together with interest thereon: jurisdic-
tion was duly involved (29 U.S.C... §215 and 217). Petition-
ers answered setting up the minimum wage and overtime
exemption of Section 13(a)(3) of the Act [29 U.S.C. 213(a)
(3)] as an affirmative and controlling defense. After inter-
rogatories by the Secretary and answers thereto hy Petition-
ers. Petitioners filed a Motion fer Summary Judgment
supported by the affidavit of Wayne H. Gallagher. « Vice-
President (R 16-37). the Secretary filed a Cross-Motion for
Summary Judgment and the case went to the District Court

RePacnats

5

on agreed facts and the following statement of the issue to
be decided (R 44):

‘The sole question for decision is as to whether or
not this exemption [§13(a)(3)] applies to employees of
the amusement park establishment during workweeks
in which they spend all or part of their time assisting in
the erection of buildings, rides, towers, fences. signs.
driveways, walkways, parking lots, or other struc-
tures. . . at the place of business known as Six Flags
Over Georgia and are not paid time and one-half their
regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a
workweek, the parties are in agreement that otherwise
the exemption applies.”’

By order with accompanying findings of fact and con-
clusions of law (R 45-50 and Appendix ‘*‘A’’ hereto) the
District Court held as a matter of law that the activities in
question are not ‘‘characteristic of amusement park opera-
tions or the activities of amusement park employees”’ (a
proposition which the Court of Appeals upheld in its sup-
plemental opinion of April 10), that ‘‘it is the nature of the
work performed which is controlling’ (R 48) and gave judg-
ment for the Secretary.

The Court of Appeals affirmed per curiam stating:

“It is the character of the work, not the source of
the remuneration, that controls .. . The nature of the
Work is what gives rise for the need for an exemption:
the exemption is not a subsidy accorded to an em-
ployer because of his principal activities”’.

For this proposition the Court cited its very recent case
of Hodgson v. Colonnades, Inc., 472 F. 2d 42 (C.A. 5,

1973), involving substantially the same interpretation with
respect to the 13(b)(8) exemption as applied to hotels [29

PON elie SOO

U.S.C. §213(b(8)]. Copy of this opinion is attached as Ap-
pendix **C”’.

6

The uncontroverted facts are set forth in Mr. Gallagher's
affidavit (R 16-37) and may be summarized as follows:

One of the Petitioners, Great Southwest Atlanta Corp.,
operates an amusement park establishment near Atlanta,
Georgia, known as Six Flags Over Georgia. This is admit-
tedly a seasonal amusement park establishment within the
meaning of the 13(a)(3) Exemption to the Fair Labor Stan-
dards Act. The permanent staff includes a regular main-
tenance crew of some 100 persons consisting of mechanics,
fiberglass men, electricians, carpenters, painters, landscape
men, general labor, animation men, plumbers, sound men,
artists, sign painters and janitors. All of such employees are
employed exclusively in connection with the operation of
the Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park. }

In reliance upon the clear language of the 13(a)(3) exemp-
tion, the Company's labor contract with the Carpenter's
Union provides for overtime after 50 hours during certain
seasons of the year and this same condition applies at Peti- |
tioners’ sister parks of Six Flags over Texas and Six Flags
over Mid-America.

The primary duty of the park’s maintenance crew is the
repair and maintenance of the existing park establishment.
Large numbers of people attend the park and this requires
constant activity by the maintenance crew to maintain the
park as a safe and pleasant public attraction. As a part of
this work and to update park entertainment, new rides are
installed. old ones are reworked. new structures are built,

—"

7

and old structures are rehabilitated, moved and refurbished,
new fences are put up, and new walkways are put in. A
large amount of this work is contracted out. However,
some of the park maintenance crew assist or participate in
those types of work which the Secretary deems to be con-
struction or reconstruction of park establishment facilities
as contrasted with repair and maintenance of such facilities.
The Secretary contends that the 13(a)(3) amusement park
exemption does not apply to employees during workweeks
in which they do construction or reconstruction work and
during which they admittedly do not receive overtime com-
pensation for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.2

The District Court and the Court of Appeals, as above
indicated, affirmed the Secretary’s position on the broad

2. While the basis of decision of the Courts below is far broader, the principal
contention of the Secretary was that in the light of Section 3(sX3) of the Act [29
U.S.C. 203(sX3)] which covers enterprises
“engaged in the business of construction or reconstruction, or both”

All construction and reconstruction work is covered regardless of the business
establishment exemptions. This view was supported by the Court of Appeals for
the Fifth Circuit in Hodgson v. Colonnades, Inc. 472 F. 2d 42, 48-49 (CAS, 1973).
However, it is clear that Congress in referring to the “‘business of construction or
reconstruction” was using the term in the normal sense of a construction firm or a
construction company and there is no indication that an exempt business estab-
lishment that performs incidental construction activities for itself is engaged in the
business of construction. Thus, in discussing the original provision in the 1961
amendments the House of Representatives Labor Committee Report (the almost
identical language appears in the Senate Labor Committee Report) states:

“The Committee believes that difficulty could arise in applying the con-
cepts of ‘establishment’ and ‘sales* as contained in the bill as introduced, to
the Construction Industry which performs its work under contracts and has
employees of its contractors at many different job sites. The Committee has
deliberately refrained from using these terms in section 3.5). [Later to
become 3(s)(3).] Under the bill it is clear that if a construction contractor is
engaged in construction activities at a number of construction sites, all of
these activities will be considered as being performed for the enterprise.
and all the employees will come under the Act if the enterprise has an
annual volume of business of $350,000 or more.“ [HR Report No. 75, 87th
Congress. Ist Session, March 13, 1961: Emphasis supplied].

price. mua

8

general principle that the character of the work determines
all Section 13 exemptions even where the exemption applies
by its specific terms to all employees employed by a certain
type of business establishment.

REASONS FOR GRANTING WRIT

1. Conflict in standards of interpretation to be applied in
connection with the statutory exemptions.

This decision and the court’s earlier decision in Hodgson
v. Colonnades, Inc., 472 F. 2d 42, 46 (CA 5, 1973) are in
direct conflict with the standards of construction of the ex-
emption provisions announced by this Court in Addison et
al v. Holly Hill Fruit Products, Inc., 322 U.S. 607. 616-618
(1944); by the 9th Circuit in McComb v. Hunt Foods, Inc.,
167 F. 2d, 905, 906, 908 (CA 9, 1948), cert. den. 335 U.S.
845 (1948); by the Ist Circuit in Mitchell v. Stinson, 217 F.
2d 210, 214, 215 (CA 1, 1954); and impliedly approved by
the 2nd Circuit in Walling v. Connecticut Co., 62 F. Supp.
733 (D.C. Conn. 1945), affirmed 154 F. 2d, 552 (CA 2,
1946), cert. den. 329 U.S. 667 (1947) in that they seek to
limit the clear and unequivocal scope of the business estab-
lishment exemption to work of a certain nature.

As this Court has pointed out Congress did not elect to
extend the Fair Labor Standards Act to the full extent of
possible coverage Kirschbaum Co. v. Walling. 316 U.S.
517, 521-522 (1942).

The Fair Labor Standards Act, as it is presently consti-
tuted, covers practically every type of business enterprise
(29 U.S.C. §203(r). §203(s). 206 and 207). Then in Sections

acca Sinbelivdiec™ "4 Sted EN ET he AR aS RET

13(a) and 13(b) [29 U.S.C. §213(a) and (b)] the Act spells
out no less than thirty-three exemptions. Some depend
upon the work of the employee, some depend upon the
business of the employer, some extend only to certain seg-
ments of a type of business. These exemptions have been
built up over the thirty-five years of the Act’s existence and
through major statutory revisions in 1949, 1961 and 1966.
They are carefully delineated. (See Appendix **B”’, infra).

In discussing the proper standards of interpretation with
respect to the exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards
Act, this Court stated through Mr. Justice Frankfurter
(Addison et al v. Holly Hill Fruit Products, Inc., 322 U.S.
607 at 616-618 (1944)—a case overturning the Adminis-
trator’s definition of ‘area of production”’):

‘The wider a delegation is made by Congress to an
administrative agency the more incomplete is a statute
and the ampler the scope for filling in, as it is called,
its details. But when Congress wants to give wide dis-
cretion it uses broad language. Thus, in the Interstate
Commerce Act, Congress prohibited a lower rate for a
longer than a shorter haul, but it gave an authority to
the Interstate Commerce Commission, undefined ex-
cept as the general purposes of that Act implied the
basis for affording exemption, to grant relief from this
prohibition. Intermountain Rate Cases (United States
v. Atchison, T. & S. F. R. Co.), 234 U.S. 476, 34
S.Ct. 986, 58 L.Ed. 1408. Again in the National Labor
Relations Act, Congress gave the Board authority to
take such action ‘‘as will effectuate the policies of this
Act.” §10(c), 49 Stat. 449, 454, 29 U.S.C. §160(c), 29
U.S.C.A. §160(c). The “‘policies’’ of the Act were so
broadly defined by Congress that the determination of
‘the relation of remedy to policy is peculiarly a matter
for administrative competence’’. Phelps Dodge Corp.
v. National Labor Relations Board, 313 U.S. 177, 194,

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10

61 S. Ct. 845, 852, 85 L.Ed. 1271. In the Fair Labor
Standards Act, Congress legislated very differently in
relation to the problem before us. To be sure the Fair
Labor Standards Act like the National Labor Relations
Act was based on findings and a declaration of broad
policy. But Congress did not prescribe or proscribe ,
generally and then give broad discretion for adminis-
trative relief as in the Interstate Commerce Act or for
remedies as in the National Labor Relations Act. Con-
gress did otherwise. It dealt with exemptions in detail
and with particularity, enumerating not less than
eleven exempted classes based on different industries,
on different occupations within the same industry, (the
classification in some instances to be defined by the
Administrator, in some made by Congress itself. in
others subject to definition by other legislation). on
size and on areas. In short the Administrator was not
left at large. A new national policy was here formu-
lated with exceptions, catalogued with particularity and
not left within the broad dispensing power of the Ad-
ministrator. Exemptions made in such detail preclude
their enlargement by implication.

‘**We should of course be faithful to the meaning of
a statute. But after ail Congress expresses its meaning
by words. If legislative policy is couched in vague lan-
guage. easily susceptible of one meaning as well as
another in the common speech of men, we should not
stifle a policy by a pedantic or grudging process of
construction. To let general words draw nourishment
from their purpose is one thing. To draw on some
unexpressed spirit outside the bounds of the normal
meaning of words is quite another. For we are here not
dealing with the broad terms of the Constitution “as a
continuing instrument of government” but with part of
a legislative code ‘‘subject to continuous revision with
the changing course of events’*. United States v. Clas-
sic. 313 U.S. 299, 316. 61 S.Ct. 1031, 1038. 85 L.Ed.
1368.

‘*Legislation introducing a new system is at best em-
pirical, and not infrequently administration reveals

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gaps or inadequacies of one sort or another that may
call for amendatory legislation. But it is no warrant for
extending a statute that experience may disclose that it
should have been made more comprehensive. ‘The nat-
ural meaning of words cannot be displaced by refer-
ence to difficulties in administration.” Commonwealth
v. Grunseit (1943) 67 C.L.R. 58, 80. For the ultimate
question is what has Congress commanded, when it
has given no clue to its intentions except familiar
English words and no hint by the draftsmen of the
words that they meant to use them in any but an ordi-
nary sense. The idea which is now sought to be read
into the grant by Congress to the Administrator to de-
fine ‘the area of production’ beyond the plain geo-
graphic implications of that phrase is not so
complicated nor is English speech so poor that words
were not easily available to express the idea or at least
to suggest it. After all, legislation when not expressed
in technical terms is addressed to the common run of
men and is therefore to be understood according to the
sense of the thing, as the ordinary man has a right to
rely on ordinary words addressed to him.

‘The details with which the exemptions in this Act
have been made preclude their enlargement by implica-
tion. While the judicial function in construing legisla-
tion is not a mechanical process from which judgment
is excluded, it is nevertheless very different from the
legislative function. Construction is not legislation and
must avoid ‘that retrospective expansion of meaning
which properly deserves the stigma of judicial legisla-
tion." Kirschbaum Co. v. Walling, 316 U.S. 517, 522,
62 S.Ct. 1116, 1119, 86 L.Ed. 1638. To blur the dis-
tinctive functions of the legislative and judicial process
is not conducive to responsible legislation. ”’ [Emphasis
Supplied].

As the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit pointed out
in sustaining the first processing exemption (McComb v.
Hunt Foods, Inc., 167 F. 2d 905, 906, 908, (CA 9, 1948),

EDEL NS ee |

Bea cay

12

a

cert. den. 335 U.S. 845 (1948)] **The Fair Labor Standards
Act was fashioned to accomplish certain results—to benefit
labor and also to make specific beneficial exemption provi-
sions for a certain class of employers defined in the Act.”
These provisions excepting activities from coverage apply
in as full measure as those activities brought within the
scope of the Act where supported by adequate proof.

As the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit pointed out
in construing the fish canning exemption (Mitchell v. Stin-
son, 217 F. 2d 210, 214, 215 (CA 1, 1954)

*‘Upon examination of the exemption contained in
§$213(b) (4) and upon comparison of it with the other
exemptions contained in §213 it can be seen that the
language of the exemptions is not parallel. The differ-
ence in terminology employed by Congress strongly in-
dicates that Congress differentiated as to whether
employees were to be exempt because they were em-
ployed by a particular employer. employed in a par-
ticular capacity. employed in a particular industry. or
employed in connection with a particular industry.
Thus, where the words ‘any employee of a carrier by
air * * **: ‘any employee employed by any retail or
service establishment * * **; ‘any employee of a street.
suburban, or interurban electric railway * * **: and
‘any employee of an emplover engaged in the business
of operating taxicabs” are used, it is the nature of the
employer’s business which is determinative as to
whether or not a particular employee is to be included
within the exemption.”

The District Court for the District of Connecticut consid-
ered a similar question in connection with an exemption
which applied to “‘any employee of a... local trolley or
motor bus carrier.“" The defendant operated a trolley and
bus line and also a powerhouse. The question for decision
was whether the exemption applied to the powerhouse em-

eee ” {SRL Bl ROCA I RATT

13

ployees. The Government argued that the exemption ap-
plied only to vehicular drivers and not to powerhouse
employees.

‘Since only about ten percent of all local trolley

lines .. . manufacture their own power (and accordingly)
the powerhouse operation is not an essential or usual part
of local trolley . . . business.”

The Court struck this argument down on the ground that
there was no limitation in the exemption. *‘Were there no
other uses of the power produced than in the operation of
the trolley lines the exemption would apply.’ Judgment was
given for the Government only on the ground that a sub-
stantial portion of the power produced was sold to custom-
ers in the regular course of an electric utility business.
[Walling v. Connecticut Co., 62 F. Supp. 73 (D.C. Conn.
1945): affirmed 154 F. 2d 552 (CA 2, 1946): cert. den. 329
U.S. 667 (1947)].

It is further to be noted that the broad and unrestricted
scope of the establishment exemption when applied to a
particular business was fully recognized by the Adminis-
trator of the Wage and Hour Division in his Interpretative
Bulletin No. 6 wherein he dealt with the original unre-
stricted retail and service establishment exemption. This
bulletin provides as follows:

“1. Section 13(a)(2) of the Act grants an exemption
from the minimum wage provisions of section 6 and
the maximum hour provisions of section 7, as follows:

‘The provisions of section 6 and 7 shall not ap-
ply with respect to * * * any employee engaged in

14

any retail or service establishment the greater part
of whose selling or services is in intrastate com-

**S. It should be noted that the test prescribed
in sections 6 and 7 is related to the nature of
employment of the particular employee. The crite-
rion used in section 13(a)(2), on the other hand, is
the nature of the establishment in which the em-
ployee is engaged. Thus, under sections 6 and 7
some employees of a given industry or of a given
employer may be covered and others may not be
covered. If, however, the exemption provided by
section 13(a)(2) is applicable because the greater
part of the selling or servicing of the retail or
service establishment is in intrastate commerce,
all employees engaged in the establishment are ex-
empted from sections 6 and 7.°° [Emphasis not
supplied: appears in original bulletin].

This interpretation has never been departed from. al-
though the current interpretative bulletin is less explicit (29

CFR §779. 302 and §779.308) and the Secretary argues for a
different application of its current language.

2. An important question of Federal Law is involved
which should be settled by this Court: failure of the Courts
below to follow established and usual course of judicial pro-
ceedings.

An important question to be decided is whether the
Courts below were correct in holding that business estab-
lishment exemptions of the Fair Labor Standards Act can
be restricted to certain types of work performed for it by
the establishment's employees. The holding of the Court
below that “‘it is the character of the work, not the source

15

of remuneration that controls’’ effectively destroys the
broad scope of the business establishment type of exemp-
tion that Congress has fashioned over some thirty-five years
and throws into question the application of such an exemp-
tion to many thousands of employees and thousands of em-
ployers, particularly in the hotel, motel, restaurant,
amusement park, motion picture theater, nursing home and
bowling alley industries who have relied for years without
question on the clear and unambiguous terms of the busi-
ness establishment exemption.* This is a question of great
and recurring significance.

Of equal importance is the assumption of the Court be-
low that it has not only the right but the duty to restrict
plain and unambiguous statutory provisions in the interest
of broad social purpose and the general admonitions of this
Court that exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act
‘must be narrowly construed’’ [Hodgson v. Colonnades,
Inc., 472 F. 2d, 42, 47 (CA 5, 1973)].4 This goes to the
whole question of the proper standards of statutory con-
struction.

The failure of the Court below to recognize the proper
and established standards of statutory construction repre-

3For example in discussing the amusement park exemption, the Labor Law editors
of Commerce Clearing House state:

‘For purposes of the exemption for employees of seasonal amusement or
recreational establishments, it does not matter how large the establishment's
annual volume of business is or what duties are performed by the individual
employees. An establishment which is a covered enterprise or part of a
covered enterprise is no less entitled to the benefit of the exemption than a
non-enterprise establishment.’’ C.C.H. Labor Law Reporter, | Wages and
Hours §25,223 [Emphasis supplied].

‘This Court stated in the case of A. H. Phillips, Inc. v. Walling, 324 U.S. 490 at
493 (1945), wherein the definition of establishment was first delineated: **Any
exemption from such humanitarian and remedial legislation must therefor be nar-
rowly construed, giving due regard to the plain meaning of statutory language and
the intent of Congress.*’ [Emphasis Supplied]

LAO ESC eb HE IBDN NS RENT SERRE TS a
:

16

sents a grave departure from the established and usual
course of judicial proceedings. This is emphasized by the
statutory history of the retail and service establishment ex-
emption which together with numerous other arguments
were presented to the Court below.

In 1938 the original statute exempted from both the min-
imum wage and overtime requirements of the Act:

‘‘Any employee engaged in any retail or service es-
tablishment, the greater part of whose selling or servic-
ing is in intrastate commerce.”

In 1949, this exemption was amended to exempt from the
minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Act:

‘‘Any empioyee employed by any retail or service
establishment, more than 50 per centum of which es-
tablishment’s annual dollar volume of sales of goods or
services is made within the state in which the estab-
lishment is located. 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.”

Thereafter, in 1961, Section 13(a)(2) of the Act was fur-
ther amended to provide that the minimum wage and over-
time provisions of the Act shall not apply to:

‘*Any employee employed by any retail or service
establishment more than 50 per centum of which estab-
lishment’s annual dollar volume of sales of goods or

services is made within the state in which the estab-
lishment is located, if such establishment—

‘“(i) is not an enterprise described in Section
3(s), or

» Ali
> SAR

MotB PWG Ba AM Bm STF ALLO, LM

17

‘*(ii) is in such an enterprise and is a hotel, mo-
tel, restaurant, or motion picture theater; or is an
amusement or recreational establishment that op-
erates on a seasonal basis, or

‘*(iii) is in such an enterprise and is a hospital
or institution which is primarily engaged in the
care of the sick, the aged, the mentally ill or defec-
tive residing on the premises of such institution, or
a school of physically or mentally handicapped or
gifted children, or

hy
&
te
sy
Des
a
b
Re
§
<
Es

‘‘(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 es-
tablishment 75 per centum of whose annual dollar vol-
ume 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.’’ [Emphasis supplied].

Thereafter, the statute was further amended in 1966 to
state that there is exempted from the minimum wage and
overtime provisions of the Act [29 U.S.C. §213(a)(2)],

‘‘any employee employed by any retail or service es-
tablishment except an establishment or employee en-
gaged in laundering, cleaning, or repairing clothing of
fabrics, or an establishment engaged in the operation of
a hospital institution or school described in Section 3(s)
(4), if more than 50 per centum of such establishment's
annual dollar volume of sales of goods or services is
made within the state in which the establishment is
located and such establishment is not an enterprise de-
scribed in Section 3(s) or such establishment has an
annual dollar volume of sales which is less than
$250,000 (exclusively of excise taxes at the retail level
which are separately stated). [Emphasis supplied].

18

‘**A retail or service establishment shall mean an es-
tablishment 75 per centum of whose annual dollar vol-
ume 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.”

At the same time, Congress, having carefully restricted the
original broad scope of the retail and service establishment
exemption by excepting those businesses covered under
Sections 3(s), (2) and (4), gave the seasonal amusement
park exemption unrestricted separate status in Section 13(a)
(3) of the Act, gave motion picture theaters separate status
under Section 13(a)9) and provided separately for hotel,
motel, restaurant and nursing home industries in Section
13(b)(8) of the Act. If Congress had wished to except cer-
tain types of work from these exemptions it could have
done so, the failure to do so clearly indicates, we urge, the
stated congressional purpose to have these exemptions ap-
plied according to their terms without resort to the judicial
patina of interpretative alteration.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons it is respectfully submitted that
this petition for a writ of certiorari should be granted.

ARTHUR J. RIGGS
JOHNSON, BROMBERG, LEEDS &
RIGGS
ISth Floor, 211 N. Ervay
Dallas, Texas 75201
Counsel for Petitioners

19

APPENDIX ‘‘A”’
OPINIONS IN THE LOWER COURTS

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA DIVISION

CIVIL ACTION

NO. 14876

JAMES D. HODGSON
v.

SIX FLAGS OVER
GEORGIA, LTD., ET AL.

ORDER

Plaintiff and defendants have submitted this case to the
court on stipulations of fact hereinafter set out. The ques-
tion to be decided is whether or not §213(a)(3) of the Fair
Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. §213(a)(3)) exempting em-
ployees of amusement and recreational establishments ap-
plies to certain employees of the amusement park during
those work weeks in which said employees spend all or part
of their time assisting in the erection of ‘‘buildings, rides,
towers, fences, signs, driveways, walkways, parking lots or
other structures . . . at the place of business known as ‘Six
Flags Over Georgia’ *’ and who are not paid time and one-

1834 —

20

half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess
of 40 during a work week. Plaintiff and defendants have
stipulated that the exemption of §13(a)(3) does apply in all
other situations involving the employees of said amusement
park.

FINDINGS OF FACT
The parties have stipulated the following facts:

**1. Defendant Great Southwest Atlanta Corp. operates
an amusement park near Atlanta, Georgia, known as ‘Six
Flags Over Georgia.” The park operation is seasonal. It op-
erates on weekends during April and May, seven days a
week from June through Labor Day, and on weekends from
Labor Day until the park closes at Thanksgiving. Over 90%
of the park’s receipts are made during the six peak oper-
ating months.

**2. Great Southwest Atlanta Corp.. as general partner of
the limited partnership known as Six Flags Over Georgia.
Ltd. is operating an amusement or recreation establishment
known as Six Flags Over Georgia: employees are employed
by said amusement or recreational establishment who are
engaged in commerce, including employees handling or oth-
erwise working on goods which have been moved in or
produced for commerce. Said amusement or recreation es-
tablishment is part of an enterprise within the meaning of
section 3(s) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. as
amended, (29 U.S.C. §203(s) ). Six Flags Over Georgia is
an amusement or recreational establishment within the
meaning of §13(aX3) of the Act [29 U.S.C. §213(a)(3) }.

Se oe

21

‘3. The park was built during 1966 and 1967 at a total
construction cost of some twelve million dollars and an-
nually entertains almost two million guests. During the park
season the park employs some 1,625 workers, but the per-
manent work force is approximately 215, of which some
100 are maintenance employees such as gardeners, painters,
carpenters, electricians, plumbers, janitors, laborers, and so
forth. All of these are employed by Great Southwest At-
lanta Corp. exclusively in connection with the Six Flags
Over Georgia park operation. It is certain that members of
the maintenance employee group as set forth in Exhibit B
to Defendants’ Answers to Plaintiff's Interrogatories, which
is incorporated herein by reference, are the subject of this
litigation.

‘4. The maintenance employees are covered by a collec-
tive bargaining agreement with Industrial Local Union No.
2546, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of
America, AFL-CIO, which covers wages, hours, and work-
ing conditions and provides, among other things, that:

‘Time and one-half the employee’s regular hourly
rate of pay will be paid for all hours worked in excess
of forty in a work week during those work weeks com-
mencing with Labor Day and ending with the last work
week before April 15. Time and one-half the em-
ployee’s regular hourly rate of pay will be paid for all
hours worked in excess of fifty in a work week during
all other work weeks (i.e., for those work weeks fall-
ing between the last full work week prior to April 15
and Labor Day).”

Similar provisions are to be found in the labor agreements
which cover the two amusement parks operated by defen-

dants’ affiliates and known as Six Flags Over Texas and Six
Flags Over Mid-America respectively.

22

**5. The maintenance employees maintain the grounds,
rides, buildings and other attractions in the park in order to
keep the park safe for and attractive to the public. In addi-
tion, from time to time in order to keep the park safe for
and attractive to the public, new rides are installed, old
ones are reworked, new fences are put up, new structures
are built and old ones are remodeled or refurbished, as
described in Exhibit A to Defendants’ Answers to Plain-
tiff’s Interrogatories, which is incorporated herein by refer-
ence. A large portion of this work is contracted out and
most of the work is done during the off season: however, as
is detailed in the answers to the plaintiff's interrogatories
and in defendants’ affidavit in support of its Motion for
Summary Judgment. some of this work is done during the
park season and some of the maintenance crew may per-
form or assist in this work.”

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Section 13(aX3) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29
U.S.C. §213(aX3) ) provides that the minimum wage and
overtime provisions of the Act shall not apply to:

‘‘any employee employed by an establishment which
is an amusement or recreational establishment, if (A) It
does not operate for more than seven months in any
calendar year, or (B) During the preceding calendar
year. its average receipts for any six months of such
year were not more than 33'/s per centum of its aver-
age receipts for the other six months of such year.

Plaintiff relies heavily on an unreported order from the
Southern District of Florida (Hodgson v. Colonnades. Inc..
et al., C.A. No. 69-430-Civ-EC dated 7-26-71) wherein the

enn neeenneneiennennren een

23

court held that regular employees of the hotel defendant
who were engaged in a constant program of modernization
of the hotel facilities (as opposed to mere maintenance and
repair as a necessary incident to the operation of the hotel) *
were not exempt from the minimum wage and overtime _
provisions of the Act provided for in §13(b\(8) (29 U.S.C.
§213(b)\(8) ).

We think the situation in Colonnades is analogous. The
construction of amusement park facilities such as rides.’ ex-
hibition buildings, refreshment centers and the like are not
characteristic of amusement park operations or the activi-
ties of amusement park employees. It was the purpose of
Congress to include within the coverage of the Act employ-
ees of construction contractors who build for themselves as
well as for others (Wirtz v. Allen Green & Associates, Inc..
379 F.2d |98 at 200 (6th Cir. 1967) ), and it makes no differ-
ence whether or not the employer characterizes himself as a
construction contractor or not since it is the nature of the
work performed which is controlling. (Shultz v. W. R.
Hartin & Son, Inc., 428 F.2d 186 at 190 (4th Cir. 1970).

The facts agreed on by the parties show that defendants’
employees whose work is at issue herein involved them-
selves in the business of constructing or reconstructing fa-
cilities within the amusement park although included on the
payroll of the amusement facility as employees of the
amusemert park. The designation given such employees by
defendants is not controlling: it is the nature of the work
performed by such employees which is controlling. Shultz
v. W. R. Hartin & Son. Inc.. supra.

+
x
=
3

24

If the employer regularly and substantially engages
in an otherwise non-exempt business other than the
one for which the exemption was designed, however,
strict construction of the exemption requires that it not
be extended to that other business merely because the
principal business of the employer is exempted. To do
so would hardly be fair to those who must compete in
that other business as their major activity. Walling vy.
Connecticut Co., 62 F.Supp. 735. (Emphasis added.)

In Connecticut Co., the defendant (a local trolley carrier)
contended that all of its employees were exempted under
the provisions of the Act regardless of the work performed
even though extraneous to the business of a trolley carrier.
In affirming the lower court's holding, the Second Circuit,
in commenting upon the defendant's contention, stated that
the defendant’s position would be a correct literal inter-
pretation of the exemption, but to follow such a literal in-
terpretation would mean that **... no matter in what
business, however extraneous to its functioning as a ‘local
trolley carrier’ defendant engaged, those employed in that
extraneous business would be exempt. The policy of the
Act, disclosed in its history. precludes the acceptance of
such a literal construction.” Walling v. Connecticut Co.,
154 F.2d 552 (C.A. 2 1946).

A literal interpretation of the exemption here at issue and
upon which defendants rely. would support defendant's
contention that even those of its employees engaged in con-
struction activities at the amusement center would be in-
cluded within the exemption of the Act, but such a reading
cannot prevail if it results in the emasculation or deletion of
a provision which a less literal reading would preserve.
Markham vy. Cabell, 326 U.S. 404, 409, 66 S.Ct. 193 (1945).

= . = : aw et EE mr Sty OP Cast POC aed
- :

=~ ORS aE eae,

25

Exemptions under the Act are to be narrowly construed
against the employer. Schultz v. Louisiana Trailer Sales,
Inc., 428 F.2d 61, 67 (C.A. 5 1970).

The plaintiff's interpretation of employment within a busi-
ness exempted under the Act supports his contention that
the employees here at issue are not entitled to the exemp-
tion.

In order to meet the requirements of actual employ-
ment ‘by’ the establishment, an employee, whether
performing his duties inside or outside the estab-
lishment, must be employed by his employer in the
work of the exempt establishment itself in activities
within the scope of its exempt business. (See Davis v.
Goodman Lumber Co., 133 F.2d 52 (CA 4) (holding
§$13(a)(2)inapplicable to employees working in manufac-
turing phase of employer's retail establishment)):
Wessling v. Carroll Gas Co., 266 F.Supp. 795 (N.D.
Iowa); Oliveira v. Basteiro, 18 WH Cases 668 (S.D.
Texas). See also Northwest Airlines v. Jackson, 185
F.2d 74 (C.A. 8): Walling v. Connecticut Co., 154 F.2d
522 (C.A. 2) certiorari denied, 329 U.S. 667, and Wa-
bash Radio Corp. v. Walling, 162 F.2d 391 (C.A. 6). 29
CFR 779.308.

Because of experienced and informed judgment, adminis-
trative rulings, interpretations and opinions, although not
binding upon the court, are entitled to careful consideration
and weight. Wirtz v. Keystone Readers Service, Inc.. 418
F.2d 249 (1969).

The court concludes that the work of the employees here
in dispute is not exempted under the Act, and plaintiff is
entitled to the relief prayed for including an injunction
against defendants and their agents and all persons in con-
cert or participation with them from violating the provisions

AS AP ere

of 15(a)(2) and 15(a\(S) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29
U.S.C. §215(a2) and §215(a)(5)) and the withholding of
payment of any overtime compensation determined to be
due such employees under the Act, together with interest
thereon at the rate of 6% per annum. However, defendants
are allowed 30 days from this date in which to respond to |
plaintiff's computations of overtime pay due such employ-
ees, and both parties are ordered to submit to the court
within 45 days such computations at which time the court
will receive from plaintiff a proposed final decree, including
the computation of such sums.

IT IS SO ORDERED.
This, the 7th day of August, 1972.

26

RICHARD C. FREEMAN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

27

United States District Court
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA DIVISION

Civil Action File No. 14876

JAMES D. HODGSON, Secretary of Labor,
United States Department of Labor,
Plaintiff.
v.
SIX FLAGS OVER GEORGIA, LTD.
and GREAT SOUTHWEST ATLANTA CORP.,
Defendants.

JUDGMENT

This cause was submitted to this Court sitting without a
jury on stipulated facts. The court entered its findings of
fact and conclusions of law by Order on August 7, 1972,
and directed the parties to submit back wage computations,
which have now been received. It is hereby:

ORDERED. ADJUDGED and DECREED that defen-
dants. Six Flags Over Georgia, Ltd. and Great Southwest
Atlanta Corporation, their officers, agents, servants, em-
ployees and all persons in concert or participation with
them be, and they hereby are, permanently enjoined from

28

violating the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938, as amended [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.], hereinafter re-
ferred to as the Act, in the following manner.

1. Defendants shall not, contrary to Sections 7 and
1S(a) (2) of the Act [29 U.S.C. 207 and 215(a) (2)], employ
any employee engaged in construction activities in an enter-
prise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods
for commerce, within the meaning of the Act, for work-
weeks longer than 40 hours unless such employee receives
compensation for his employment in excess of 40 hours at a
rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at
which he is employed. It is

FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED and DECREED
that the defendants be, and they hereby are, restrained
from withholding payment of overtime compensation found
due their employees for the periods of employment and in
the amounts as set forth in Exhibit “*A™’ attached hereto
and made a part hereof. It is

FURTHER ORDERED that within thirty days following
entry of this judgment. defendants shall deliver to plain-
tiff’s attorneys a certified or cashier's check payable to
**Wage and Hour—Labor™ in the total amount set out in
Exhibit **A™’ hereto less deductions required by law as to
each employee plus interest thereon at the rate of 6% per
annum from the median dates of the periods of employment
as to each employee until the back wages are paid. Plaintiff
shall distribute the payment received from defendants to
the persons named in Exhibit “‘A™ in the respective
amounts due each, or to their surviving heir or heirs if that

~~

ENE SR DOD AB OT A A OER,

eee

29

is necessary, and any money not so paid within a period of
one (1) year from the date of receipt thereof, because of
inability of either the defendants or plaintiff to locate the
proper persons, or because of their refusal to accept it,
shall be deposited with the Clerk of this Court who forth-
with shall deposit such money with the Treasurer of the
United States pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2041 (1964).

It is FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED and DE-
CREED that the costs of this action be, and they hereby
are, taxed against the defendants for which execution may

issue.

Dated this 5 day of September, 1972.

Richard C. Freeman
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

OSES OREN:, eat a, |

30
IN THE

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 72-2990

PETER J. BRENNAN, Secretary of Labor,
United States Department of Labor,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus

SIX FLAGS OVER GEORGIA, LTD., and
GREAT SOUTHWEST ATLANTA CORP.,
Defendants-Appellants.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the
Northern District of Georgia

(February 22, 1973)

Before ALDRICH*, SIMPSON and CLARK,
Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: The Secretary of Labor brought this ac-
tion against Six Flags over Georgia, Ltd. and Great South-
west Atlanta Corp, hereinafter, collectively, GSA, to enjoin
alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and to
compel the payment of overtime to certain employees. On a
stipulated record both parties moved for summary judg-
ment. The court ruled in favor of the Secretary and GSA
appeals.

GSA operates an amusement park at Atlanta, Georgia of
very substantial size. During the season it has over 1,600

Hon. Bailey Aldrich, Senior Circuit Judge of the First Circuit, sitting by desig-
nation.

2 alll Bey oes FERRO k A OT PY GAO 1th LE RES SOB OTM

31

employees, sharply reduced during the off-season, of which
some 100 are engaged in maintenance and repairs. From
year to year the park remodels, and erects new structures,
new buildings, and new places of entertainment, in order to
maintain public interest. This new construction is mostly
done during the off-season, much of the work being con-
tracted out. During the off-season GSA pays all of its em-
ployees wages within the act, but during the season it does
not, by virtue of the exemption afforded by 29 U.S.C.
§213(a\(3) to amusement and recreational establishments.
During the season a small amount of new work is done by
what are normally maintenance employees. It is for this
that the Secretary asserts liability.

GSA concedes, as it must, that a general contractor em-
ployed by it to do this construction work would not be
conducting a recreational establishment. GSA is in no better
position. It is the character of the work, not the source of
the remuneration, that controls. Cf. Hodgson v. Colon-
nades, Inc., 5 Cir., 1/16/73 (fact employees ‘‘changing the
premises*’ are on hotel payroll irrelevant). The nature of
the work is what gives rise to the need for an exemption:
the exemption is not a subsidy accorded to an employer
because of his principal activities.

Nor does it make any difference that the employee is
doing mixed work. In any week that any particular em-
ployee does some non-exempt work he is covered fully, not
pro rata. Hodgson v. Wittenburg Livestock Co., 5 Cir.,
1972, 68 L.C. ©32.734; Mitchell v. Hunt, 5 Cir., 1959, 263
F.2d 913. GSA says that this makes an accounting problem
for it. With the legislation on the books, the problem is of
its own making.

AFFIRMED.

ASE Bee |

32
IN THE

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 72-2990

PETER J. BRENNAN, Secretary of Labor,
United States Department of Labor,
Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

SIX FLAGS OVER GEORGIA, LTD., and
GREAT SOUTHWEST ATLANTA CORP.,
Defendants-Appellants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the
Northern District of Georgia

ON PETITION FOR REHEARING AND PETITION
FOR REHEARING EN BANC
(Opinion Feb. 22, 1973, 5 Cir., 1973, —— F.2d ——.).

(April 10, 1973)

Before ALDRICH,* SIMPSON and CLARK,
Circuit Judges.

Hon. Bailey Aldrich, Senior Circuit Judge of the First Circuit, sitting by desig-
nation.

33

PER CURIAM: Upon consideration of the petition for
rehearing the opinion of the Court is amended by inserting
at the end of the penultimate paragraph, ending at the top
of page 3 of the slip opinion, the following language: **The
district court warrantably found that this construction was
not amusement park work.”’

The petition for rehearing is otherwise DENIED and no
member of this panel nor judge in regular active service on
the Court having requested that the Court be polled on
rehearing en banc, (Rule 35, F.R.A.P., Local Fifth Circuit
Rule 12) the petition for rehearing en banc is DENIED.

(Exhibit A Omitted)

34

APPENDIX ‘‘B”’
STATUTORY PROVISIONS

Sec. 3.

(s) “*Enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production
of goods for commerce’’ means an enterprise which has
employees engaged in commerce or in the production of
goods for commerce, including employees handling, selling,
or otherwise working on goods that have been moved in or
produced for commerce by any person, and which—

(1) during the period February 1, 1967, through Janu-
ary 31, 1969, is an enterprise whose annual gross vol-
ume of sales made or business done is not less than |
$500,000 (exclusive of excise taxes at the retail level
which are separately stated) or is a gasoline service
establishment whose annual gross volume of sales is
not less than $250,000 (exclusive of excise taxes at the
retail level which are separately stated), and beginning
February 1, 1969, is an enterprise whose annual gross |
volume of sales made or business done is not less than
$250,000 (exclusive of excise taxes at the retail level
which are separately stated):

(2) is engaged in laundering, cleaning, or repairing
clothing or fabrics:

(3) is engaged in the business of construction or re-
construction, or both; or

(4) is engaged in the operation of a hospital, an in- ;
stitution primarily engaged in the care of the sick, the
aged, the mentally ill or defective who reside on the

yer P ee ee eee
fh al
ie .

35

premises of such institution, a school for mentally or
physically handicapped or gifted children, a preschool,
elementary or secondary school. or an institution of
higher education (regardless of whether or not such
hospital, institution. or school is public or private or
operated for profit or not for profit).

Sec. 6 (a) Every employer shall pay to each of his em-
ployees 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. wages at the following rates:

(1) not less than $1.40 an hour during the first year
from the effective date of the Fair Labor Standards
Amendments of 1966 and not less than $1.60 an hour
thereafter, except as otherwise provided in this sec-
tion:

Sec. 7. (a1) Except as otherwise provided in this sec-
tion, no employer shall employ any of his employees who
in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in the produc-
tion of goods for commerce. or is employed in an enterprise
engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for
commerce, for a workweek longer than forty hours unless
such employee receives compensation for his employment
in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less
than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is
employed.

Sec. 13. (a) The provisions of sections 6 (except section
6(d) in the case of paragraph (1) of this subsection) and 7
shall not apply with respect to—

36

(1) any employee employed in a bona fide executive,
administrative, or professional capacity (including any
employee employed in the capacity of academic admin-
istrative personnel or teacher in elementary or secon-
dary schools) or in the capacity of outside salesman (as
such terms are defined and delimited from time to time
by regulations of the Secretary, subject to the provi-
sions of the Administrative Procedure Act, except that
an employee of a retail or service establishment shall
not be excluded from the definition of employee em-
ployed in a bona fide executive or administrative ca-
pacity because of the number of hours in his
workweek which he devotes to activities not directly
or closely related to the performance of executive or
administrative activities, if less than 40 per centum of
his hours worked in the work-week are devoted to
such activities); or

(2) any employee employed by any retail or service
establishment (except an establishment or employee
engaged in laundering, cleaning, or repairing clothing
or fabrics or an establishment engaged in the operation
of a hospital, institution, or school described in section
3(s4)), if more than 50 per centum of such estab-
lishment’s annual dollar volume of sales of goods or
services is made within the State in which the estab-
lishment is located, and such establishment is not in an
enterprise described in section 3(s) or such estab-
lishment has an annual dollar volume of sales which is
less than $250,000 (exclusive of excise taxes at the
retail level which are separately stated). A “‘retail or

37

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; or

(3) any employee employed by an establishment
which is an amusement or recreational establishment,
if (A) it does not operate for more than seven months
in any Calendar year, or (B) during the preceding calen-
dar year, its average receipts for any six months of
such year were not more than 33/3 per centum of its
average receipts for the other six months of such year:

or

(4) any employee employed by an establishment
which qualifies as an exempt retail establishment under
clause (2) of this subsection and is recognized as a
retail establishment in the particular industry notwith-
Standing that such establishment makes or processes at
the retail establishment the goods that it sells: Pro-
vided. That more than 85 per centum of such estab-
lishment’s annual dollar volume of sales of goods so
made or processed is made within the State in which
the establishment is located: or

(5) any employee employed in the catching, taking,
propagating, harvesting, cultivating. or farming of any
kind of fish. shellfish. crustacea. sponges. seaweeds. or
other aquatic forms of animal and vegetable life. or in
the first processing. canning or packing such marine
products at sea as an incident to. or in conjunction

eee |

38

with, such fishing operations, including the going to
and returning from work and loading and unloading
when performed by any such employee; or

(6) any employee employed in agriculture (A) if such
employee is employed by an employer who did not,
during any calendar quarter during the preceding calen-
dar year, use more than five hundred man-days of agri-
cultural labor, (B) if such employee is the parent,
spouse, child, or other member of his employer’s im-
mediate family, (C) if such employee (i) is employed as
a hand harvest laborer and is paid on a piece rate basis
in an operation which has been, and is customarily and
generally recognized as having been, paid on a piece
rate basis in the region of employment, (ii) commutes
daily from his permanent residence to the farm on
which he is so employed, and (iii) has been employed
in agriculture less than thirteen weeks during the pre-
ceding calendar year, (D) if such employee (other than
an employee described in clause (C) of this subsection)
(i) is sixteen years of age or under and is employed as
a hand harvest laborer, is paid on a piece rate basis in
an operation which has been, and is customarily and
generally recognized as having been, paid on a piece
rate basis in the region of employment, (ii) is employed
on the same farm as his parent or person standing in
the place of his parent, and (iii) is paid at the same
piece rate as employees over age sixteen are paid on
the same farm, or (E) if such employee is principally
engaged in the range production of livestock: or

—_—~S ~~

- “ ws --* < Dare DU} en Rd? Re ae

39

(7) any employee to the extent that such employee is
exempted by regulation, order, or certificate of the
Secretary issued under section 14; or

(8) any employee employed in connection with the
publication of any weekly, semiweekly, or daily news-
paper with a circulation of less than four thousand the
major part of which circulation is within the county
where published or counties contiguous thereto: or

(9) any emplovee employed by an establishment
which is a motion picture theater: or

(10) any switchboard operator employed by an inde-
pendently owned public telephone company which has
not more than seven hundred and fifty stations: or

(11) any employee or proprietor in a retail or service
establishment which qualifies as an exempt retail or
service establishment under clause (2) of this sub-
section with respect to whom the provisions of sec-
tions 6 and 7 would not otherwise apply. engaged in
handling telegraphic messages for the public under an
agency or contract arrangement with a telegraph com-
pany where the telegraph message revenue of such
agency does not exceed $500 a month: or

(12) any employee employed as a seaman on a vessel
other than an American vessel: or

(13) any employee employed in planting or tending
trees. cruising, surveying, or felling timber, or in pre-
paring or transporting logs or other forestry products
to the mill, processing plant, railroad, or other trans-

40

portation terminal, if the number of employees em-
ployed by his employer in such forestry or lumbering
operations does not exceed eight; or

(14) any agricultural employee employed in the grow-
ing and harvesting of shade-grown tobacco who is en-
gaged in the processing (including, but not limited to,
drying, curing, fermenting, bulking, rebulking, sorting,
grading, aging, and baling) of such tobacco, prior to
the stemming process, for use as cigar wrapper to-
bacco. ,

Sec. 13.

. a

we

(b) The provisions of section 7 shall not apply with re-
spect to—

(1) any employee with respect to whom the Secre-
tary of Transportation has power to establish quali-
fications and maximum hours of service pursuant to ;
the provisions of section 204 of the Motor Carrier Act,
1935; or

(2) any employee of an employer subject to the pro-
visions of part I of the Interstate Commerce Act; or

(3) any employee of a carrier by air subject to the
provisions of title II of the Railway Labor Act: or

(4) any employee employed in the canning, process-
ing, marketing, freezing, curing, storing, packing for }
shipment, or distributing of any kind of fish, shellfish,
or other aquatic forms of animal or vegetable life, or
any byproduct thereof; or

ae E ie oh Fae pt 02% 3 osm ap Ra RUT APOE

41

(5) any individual employed as an outside buyer of
poultry, eggs. cream, or milk, in their raw or natural
State, or

(6) any employee employed as a seaman: or

(7) any driver, operator, or conductor employed by
an employer engaged in the business of operating a
street. suburban or interurban electric railway. or local
trolley or motorbus carrier. if the rates and services of
such railway or carrier are subject to regulation by a
State or local agency: or

(8) any employee employed by an establishment
which is a hotel. motel. or restaurant: or any employee
who (A) is employed by an establishment which is an
institution (other than a hospital) primarily engaged in
the care of the sick, the aged. or the mentally ill or
defective who reside on the premises, and (B) receives
compensation for employment in excess of forty-eight
hours in any workweek at a rate not less than one and
one-half times the regular rate at which he is em-
ployed: or

(9) any employee employed as an announcer, news
editor, or chief engineer by a radio or television station
the major studio of which ts located (A) in a city or
town of one hundred thousand population or less. ac-
cording to the latest available decennial census figures
as compiled by the Bureau of the Census, except
where such city or town is part of a standard metropol-
itan statistical area, as defined and designated by the
Bureau of the Budget. which has a total population in

42

excess of one hundred thousand, or (B) in a city or
town of twenty-five thousand population or less, which
is part of such an area but is at least 40 airline miles
from the principal city in such area; or

(10) any salesman, partsman, or mechanic primarily
engaged in selling or servicing automobiles, trailers,
trucks, farm implements, or aircraft if employed by a
nonmanufacturing establishment primarily engaged in
the business of selling such vehicles to ultimate pur-
chasers; or

(11) any employee employed as a driver or driver's
helper making local deliveries, who is compensated for
such employment on the basis of trip rates, or other
delivery payment plan, if the Secretary shall find that
such plan has the general purpose and effect of reduc-
ing hours worked by such employees to, or below, the
maximum workweek applicable to them under section
7(a); or

(12) any employee employed in agriculture or in con-
nection with the operation or maintenance of ditches,
canals, reservoirs, or waterways, not owned or oper-
ated for profit, or operated on a sharecrop basis, and
which are used exclusively for supply and storing of
water for agricultural purposes; or

(13) any employee with respect to his employment in
agriculture by a farmer, notwithstanding other employ-
ment of such employee in connection with livestock
auction operations in which such farmer is engaged as
an adjunct to the raising of livestock, either on his own

FO MERRIE OH ei

43

account or in conjunction with other farmers, if such
employee (A) is primarily employed during his work-
week in agriculture by such farmer, and (B) is paid for
his employment in connection with such livestock auc-
tion Operations at a wage rate not less than that pre-
scribed by section 6(a\(1): or

(14) any employee employed within the area of pro-
duction (as defined by the Secretary) by an estab-
lishment commonly recognized as a country elevator.
including such an establishment which sells products
and services used in the operation of a farm. if no
more than five employees are emploved in the estab-
lishment in such operations: or

(15) any employee engaged in ginning of cotton for
market. in any place of employment located in a
county where cotton is grown in commercial quan-
tities. or in the processing of sugar beets. sugar-beet
molasses, Sugar-cane. or maple sap. into sugar (other
than refined sugar) or syrup: or

(16) any employee engaged (A) in the transportation
ind preparation for transportation of fruits or vegeta-
bles. whether or not performed by the farmer. from
the farm to a place of first processing or first marketing
within the same State. or (B) tn transportation,
whether or not performed by the farmer. between the
farm and any point within the same State of persons
employed or to be employed in the harvesting of fruits
or vegetables: or

(17) any driver employed by an employer engaged in
the business of operating taxicabs: or

44

(18) any employee of a retail or service estab-
lishment who is employed primarily in connection with
the preparation or offering of food or beverages for
human consumption, either on the premises, or by
such services as catering, banquet, box lunch, or curb
or counter service, to the public, to employees, or to
members or guests of members of clubs; or

(19) any employee of a bowling establishment if such
employee receives compensation for employment in
excess of forty-eight hours in any workweek at a rate
not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at
which he is employed.

ae

45
APPENDIX “*C”

OPINION OF U. S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT—HODGSON v.
COLONNADES, INC., ETC., ET AL.

IN THE

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 72-1029

JAMES D. HODGSON. SECRETARY OF LABOR
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.

Plaintiff-Appellant-

Cross Appellee.

Versus
COLONNADES. INC.. ETC.. ET AL...

Detendants-Appellees-

Cross Appellants.

\ppeals from the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Florida

(January 16, 1973)

Before COLEMAN. AINSWORTH and DYER.
Circuit Judges.

46

COLEMAN, Circuit Judge: The Secretary of Labor
brought suit against Colonnades, Inc., and its president,
John D. MacArthur under the Fair Labor Standards Act? to
enjoin them from violating the Act’s minimum wage, over-
time, and record keeping provisions and to restrain them
from withholding payment of minimum wage and overtime
compensation due certain named employees.

The District Court

1.

N

Enjoined Colonnades from violating the Act’s over-
time requirements? as to those of its employees en-
gaged in construction work and from withholding
overtime compensation due them in the amount of
$6,612.88 including interest;

Denied injunctive relief against John D. MacArthur
personally;

. Denied the Secretary’s motion to amend his com-

plaint to include some 52 other employees alleged
also to have been affected by overtime violations;
and

. Held that prior to the 1966 amendments to the Act

the defendants were not within coverage under ei-
ther Section 203(s)(1), the applicable dollar amount

129 U.S.C. §201, et seq., hereinafter called the Act.
229 U.S.C. §207.

}

47

of gross volume of sales, or Section(s)(4), the defini-
tion of a construction enterprise.*

The District Court found that Colonnades had violated
the Act’s overtime requirements in that Colonnades’ con-
struction employees were not exempt under Section
213(b\(8)4, the exemption to the overtime provision for any
employee of a hotel. The Court further found that Colon-
nades* construction employees came within the Act for the
first time as a result of the 1966 amendments under Section

3Pror to the 1966 Amendments to the Act Section 203601 )stated
(s) “Enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for
commerce” means any of the following in the activities of which employees
are so engaged. including employees handling. selling. or otherwise working
on goods that have been moved in or produced for commerce by any
person:

(1) any such enterprise which has one or more retail or service estab-
ashments if the annual gross volume of sales of such enterprise is not less
than $1,000,000, exclusive of excise taxes at the retail level which are
separately stated and if such enterprise purchases or receives goods for
resaie that move or have moved across State lines (not in deliveries from
the reselling establishment) which amount in total annual volume to
$250,000 or more:

ind Section 203094 stated

(s) “Enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for
-ommerce’™” means any of the following in the activities of which emplovees
are so engaged. including employees handling. selling, or otherwise working
on goods that have been moved in or produced for commerce by any
nerson:

(4) any such enterprise which ts engaged in the business of construction
or reconstruction, or both. if the annual gross volume trom the business of
such enterprise is not less than $350,000

*Section TCHR), 29 -ULS.C. S2IBCHIOND states:
The provisions of section 207 of this ttle shall net apply with respect to]
(8) any emplovee emploved by an establishment which ts a hotel .

+
Ba
&
A
&
ae
‘
:

48

203(s1)5 as amended. By coming within the Act for the
first time under the 1966 Amendments, Colonnades’ con-
struction employees would be considered “‘newly covered”
and would be subject to the “‘catch-up provisions” of Sec-
tion 207(a(2).®

Facts

John D. MacArthur is the principal owner of Colonnades,
Inc., which owns and operates hotels in Palm Beach
County, Florida. The center of the MacArthur hotel opera-
tion is the Colonnades Beach Hotel, fronting the Atlantic
Ocean. Five smaller hotels are located nearby and are con-
nected to the main hotel by colonnaded walkways. This ho-
tel complex has 400 guest rooms, a large convention hall
accommodating 500 people, a bowling and putting green,
swimming pool, dining facilities, and three kitchens. Mac-
Arthur purchased the hotel in 1960 or 1961. At that time the
hotel was much smaller, with only a little over 100 rooms.
MacArthur was advised to tear down the original buildings

*Section 203(s1) as amended states:
(s) * ‘Enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for

handling, selling, or otherwise working on goods that have been moved in
or produced for commerce by any person, and which—

(1) during the period February 1, 1967, through January 31. 1969, is an
enterprise whose annual gross volume of sales made or business done is not
less than $500,000 (exclusive of excise taxes at the retail level which are
separately stated) or is a gasoline service establishment whose annual gross
volume of sales is not less than $250,000 (exclusive of excise taxes at the
retail level which are separately stated). and beginning February |. 1969. is
an enterprise whose annual gross volume of sales made or business done ts
not less than $250,000 (exclusive of excise taxes at the retail level which are
separately stated):

*The District Court erred in its findings of fact and conclusions of law when it
Stated that “‘overtime compensation shall be computed with reference to Sections
6b) and 7(aX2)."° Section 6(b) refers to the minimum wage provisions and not to
overtime compensation.

49

and start over from scratch. He testified that he ‘decided
they were wrong” and “proceeded to fix it up.”* Extensive
construction projects were undertaken. Two major construc-
tion projects were the addition of 139 new rooms on top of
the main building and the addition of several floors on top
of the convention center. These additions were constructed
hy numerous independent contractors and subcontractors.
Also. MacArthur was continually improving and changing
the premises. The labor for this constant improvement pro-
gram was performed by emplovees on the hotel’s payroll. In
the joint stipulation the parties agreed that Colonnades* con-
struction employees performed the following tasks:

(a) Applied waterproof stucco to the exterior walls of
hotel buildings.

(b) Dug ditches and connected piping for a sprinkler
system on the hotel lawn.

(c) Erected forms and poured concrete in those forms
to construct an addition to the seawall on the ho-
tel’s ocean-front.

(d) Received construction materials from suppliers.
moved those materials onto the hotel elevators,
and unloaded those materials on upper floors of the
hotel for use by employees of outside contractors,

(e) Erected forms and poured concrete to build side-
walks connecting various hotel buildings.

(1) Constructed outside steps to be used as fire escapes
on hotel buildings.

(2) Constructed a penthouse apartment on top of the
main hotel building. and

CAR my te

50

(h) Cleaned up construction debris left by employees
of various outside independent contractors who
were engaged to build four additional floors on the
main hotel building.

During the period specified in the complaint (the period
since April 7, 1967) the employees named were not paid
overtime for workweeks in excess of forty hours.

Both parties appeal from those findings not in their favor.
We affirm the District Court's decision as to: |
}

1. The denial of injunctive relief against John D.
McArthur personally, and

'

The finding that Colonnades’ construction employ- |
ees were not subject to the exemption to the over-
time provisions of the Act under Section 213(b\8).

We reverse the District Court's decision as to:

1. The refusal to allow the Secretary to amend his
complaint to include additional employees of Colon-
nades and

2. That Colonnades did not come within the definition
of a construction enterprise within Section 203(s)(4).

The Law
A. Injunctive Relief Against John D. MacArthur

Section 203(d) defines *“‘employer™’ to include ‘‘any per-
son acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an em-
ployer in relation to an employee . . .”” (

51

The Secretary claimed that MacArthur

(1) participated in the day-to-day supervision of the ac-
tivities giving rise to the violations:

(2) had the authority to hire and fire the employees in
question: and

(3) supervised the supervisors.

The Secretary contends that “‘courts have repeatedly held
that corporate officers who have a proprietary interest in
their companies and who actively participate in their day-to-
day affairs” are proper party defendants under Section 2177
and can be enjoined from continuing to withhold unpaid
wages due to affected employees.

The District Court found that “an injunction directed to
MacArthur personally would be inappropriate and unneces-
sury.” It said “the evidence indicated that the management
and operations of the hotel were regularly supervised by
others.”

“Each case must be considered tn light of the total situ-
ation or whole activity to determine whether an employer-
emplovee relationship exists.” Wirtz +. Lone Star Steel
Company. supra at 669 and Wirt- v. Soft Drinks of Shreve-
pert. Inc.. 336 F.Supp. 980. 987 (WoD) Ea. 1971). The total
employment situation should be considered in regard to the
aciy MacArthur performed “in the interest of the emplover
in pciation to the emplovee.” Scfit: ©. Chath-Fitzzerald
Comstruction Co.. supra at 1257. Also to be considered are

Recon 237 8 ESC tT the apphcable stocete tor minnie proceedings
under the baat Labor Standards Act

52

the “‘economic realities’ of the situation, Goldberg y.
Whittaker House Cooperative, 366 U.S. 28, 33, 81 S.Ct.
933, 936, 6 L.Ed.2d 100 (1961).

We are not inclined to reverse the action of the District
Court as to MacArthur personally. As to the corporation,
the injunction should not be disturbed.

B. The Section 213(b8) Exemption
Section 213(b\(8) provides as follows:

The provisions of Section 207 (overtime) shall not ap-
ply with respect to any employee employed by an es-
tablishment which is a hotel . . .

The District Court held as to the employees here involved
that Colonnades was not within the exemption. It found as
follows:

The Colonnades is not an unusual or a typical hotel
from the standpoint of the services and facilities it pro-
vides for its guests. The hotel is unusual, however, in
that a full-time crew is maintained for the principal
purpose of building, remodeling, and rendering sub-
stantial alterations to the premises ... (Colonnades
claims) that the hotel’s unusual policy of continuing
renovation and change should not cause it to lose the
exemption.

In the court’s view the central flaw of this argument
is the assumption that the ‘unusual’ policies of this
particular hotel are immaterial to the exemption. The
primary function of the construction crew had little if
anything to do with the daily operation of the hotel as a

SO et ais F200 4A IER 2

53

facility for the accommodation of guests. A hotel is
esseatially as service facility. The 13tbye&) exemption
contemplates that the duties of the establishment's em-
ployees will be reasonably related to and directed to-
ward that end.

The Interal interpretation and apphcation of the ex-
emption which the hotel urges runs contrary to the
over-all purpose of the Act and the exemption itself.

Des rescore amply supports this view. Yo bether emplovees
are exempt from the requirements of the Four Labor Stan-
dards Act involves a question of fact. Walling «. General
Industries Co.. 330 ULS. S548. S80. 97 SCI. S83. RRS, 9]
Li '. O88 (1947) and Hodesons) Kiiges Cou and Ice Co..
6 Cir, 1970, 435 F.2d 377. 382. cert. den 202 ULS.. 973, 91
S.C 1660, 29 Lo Fd.2d 137. Therefore. the findings of fact
mete by the District Court mav not he set aside untess
clearly erroneous. Walling +. General Industrics Co... surra
at “50: Hodevon v. Klages Coal and dee o> supra at 382.
and Wirtz vy. Atlanta Life Ins. Co. ® Cir). i868. 3ib 2d
Ole 647.

An exemption frem the coverage of (he Act “must be
narr ashy construed.” Phillips. Inc. © Walfime. 324 US.
$0; S98. 65 S.Ct SOT ROS SO Eb le sd Mitch.

« Stenson, 1 Cir.. (8S4. 217 Bld Di. 2.4 Ene exemp-
th must be applied erly to thes rlainty and

urotokohhy within its terms ane sport ips. dni 4

We ero SM at AQ? Suey, Pea Levee)! / Bre A capper nny sky,
po UAE TLS. SS BOR RAKE HS3, SS Fudd 393
POs Strict rst on of the exert TOUUITES

e anced

54

that it not be extended to another business merely because
the principal business of the employer is exempted, Walling
v. Connecticut Co., 62 F.Supp. 733, 735 (D.C. Conn. 1945),
affirmed 2 Cir., 1946, 154 F.2d 552.

Therefore. we agree that Colonnades’ construction em-
ployees® did not come within the Section 213(b)(8) exemp-
tion.

C. Amending the Complaint

The plaintiff's original complaint asked for relief for 64
employees. During the trial, the plaintiff sought to amend
the complaint to add an additional 63 employees. This
would involve approximately $27,000 additional in back
wages.

The original list of 64 names resulted from a list sub-
mitted to a Wage and Hour Compliance Officer prior to the
filing of the complaint. The plaintiff sought to obtain from
the defendant its payroll records,’ granted by the District
Court. The payroll records were inspected. From these
records the plaintiff was able to uncover all the names of
the construction workers employed during the pertinent pe-
riod, as well as the information necessary to compute the
full extent of the wage underpayments. The trial began on
November |6, 1972. The trial court denied the plaintiff's
motion to amend, stating that no case “‘cited to the court
supports the motion that the complaint may be so drastic-
ally amended on the day of the trial.”

*The Fair Labor Standards Act may be applied to a part of an employer's busi-

ness. Davis v. Goodman Lumber Co., 4 Cir., 1943, 133 F.2d 52, 54 and cases cited
therein.

Rule 34, F.R. Civ. P.

OSS ee +
= ree

55

Colonnades claims that up to trial it treated the suit as **a
$6.000 lawsuit involving 50 people.”* It then states that if
the plaintiff had amended his complaint prior to trial. Co-
jonnades would have “‘prepared for a $35,000 lawsuit in-
volving substantially over 100 employees. but (it) had no
way of knowing if any additional employees would be
added.”

The applicable part of Rule 15(b) states:

If evidence is objected to at the trial on the ground
that it is not within the issues made bv the pleadings.
the court may allow the pleadings to be amended and
shall do so freely when the presentation of the merits
of the action wi!l be subserved thereby and the object-
ing party fails to satisfy the court that the admission of
such evidence would prejudice him in maintaining his
action or defense upon the merits. The Court may
grant a continuance to enable the objecting party to
meet such evidence.

An amendment of a complaint will be allowed “unless
the opposing party is actually prejudiced.” 3 Moore's Fed-
eral Practice. $15.14 at p. 1011 (2d ed. 1968). This prejudice
must “put the objecting partys to some serious dis-
advantage.” and “it is not enough that (the obrecting party)
adh oonces an imagined grievance or seeks to rrotect some
tatical advantage.” Wright & Miller. Federai oO octies one
Precedure: Civil $1498. This. the v.rts sr the
amendment “must be seriously prejudiced” to oe > deiense
on the merits.” Id.

voy a

56

Colonnades does not make any allegation as to how it
was prejudiced in its defense except for its vague statement
that it would have defended the case differently if it had
known more money or a greater number of employees were
involved.?°

The issue on this point was really one of mathematical
computation. Colonnades had the records in its possession.
The identity of the employees and their hours of work were
there set forth.

The District Court should have allowed the amendment,
Shultz v. Mack Farland & Sons Roofing Co., 5 Cir., 1969,
413 F.2d 1296, 1302 and Monod v. Futura, Inc., 10 Cir.,
1969, 415 F.2d 1170, 1174.

D. Inclusion of Colonnades under Section 203(s)(4)

The District Court held that Colonnades did not come
within the ‘‘old’* Section 203(s)(4) as a construction enter-
prise. Unpaid overtime compensation was therefore com-
puted under Section 207(a)(2). which covers newly covered
employees who come within the Act for the first time under
the 1966 Amendments. The District Court held that Colon-
nades came within the Act for the first time under the 1966
Amendments by virtue of Section 203(s)(1) as amended:

‘The plaintiff makes much of the fact that the de-
fendant had expenditures for construction in excess of
$350,000 during the relevant periods. But this does not

101f Colonnades had been seriously prejudiced and could show it, the District
Court under Rule 15(b), F.R. Civ. P. could have granted Colonnades a continu-
ance to meet the changed situation so that Colonnades could have cured the
prejudice.

57

mean at all that the hotel was in the business of con-
struction. To the contrary, it was at all times engaged
in the business of operating a hotel. The hotel had no
profit or receipts of any kind from construction. Its
construction activities consisting solely of expanding
and modernizing existing structures and facilities for
its own account. The court finds and concludes that
the defendant hotel was not and is not engaged in the
business of construction within the meaning of the
Act.”

Colonnades claims that:

(It) was not engaged in ‘the business of construc-
tion.” It was engaged in the business of operating a
hotel. Any ‘construction’ activities consisted simply of
expanding and modernizing the existing functioning ho-
tel and were incidental to the business of operating the
hotel—not a separate business activity.

Colonnades* annual gross volume must exceed $350,000
from the construction business for Colonnades to come
within the *‘old™* Section 203(s)(4).!! Colonnades stipulated
that in every year in question there was “in excess of
$350,000 in addition to our capital assets on the premises.”

“Annual gross volume” should not be narrowly con-
strued. Wirtz v. Allen Green & Associates, Inc.. 6 Cir.,
1967, 379 F.2d 198, 200. The Court in Allen Green said that
“annual gross volume’ does not mean sales and agreed
with the District Court below that it meant “‘any gain of

"See note 3 supra.

ERTL ——

58

capital assets derived from construction activities ... to
the extent of their fair market value, irrespective of
whether the assets were in the form of money or its equiva-
lent in property.”’ Wirtz v. Allen Green & Associates, Inc.,
supra at 199. The Court in Allen Green said it was the
purpose of Congress to “‘include in the coverage of the Act
employees of construction contractors who build for them-
selves as well as those who build for others.”” Wirtz y.
Allen Green & Associates, Inc., supra at 200. Therefore, we
must hold that the District Court construed too strictly the
definition of *‘business’ in Section 203(s)(4).

The District Court on remand will compute the overtime
compensation due to the affected employees under Section
207(a)(1).

Affirmed in part, Reversed in part, and Remanded for
proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

ATS PLN APTA NR a

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40385607_0499%3A1. Public record. Not legal advice.
