Mitchell v. Adams (129 F. Supp. 377, 1955)

BOOTLE, District Judge.

This is an action by the Secretary of Labor seeking an injunction against Ralph Adams, doing business as Macon Shirt Company, for alleged violations of the minimum wage, overtime compensation, record-keeping and the shipping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 201 et seq. At a pretrial conference it was agreed that the only issues in controversy concerned whether the defendant violated the monetary, record-keeping and shipping provisions of the Act in question, and whether or not an injunction should be granted.

The case involves three groups of employees, the sewing room employees, the office employees and the Belo contract employees. This memorandum opinion v/ill deal with them in the order named.

Sewing Room Employees

The complaint here is that some of these employees were paid less than 75^ per hour and that some of them were not compensated for overtime hours at rates not less than one and one-half times the regular rate.

The defendant propounded Interrogatory No. 1 as follows:

“State the name and job classification of each and every employee of defendant with respect to whom it is contended that during the period since November 18, 1951 the defendant repeatedly has violated, and is violating, the provisions of Sections 6 and 15(a) (2) of the Act by paying to such employee wages at rates of pay less than 75^ per hour.”

To this interrogatory the defendant replied substantially as follows: The scheduled hours of work in sewing room were from 8:00 a. m. to 12:00 noon, and from 12:45 p. m. to 4:45 p. m., five days a week for a total of 40 hours a week; that all employees in this department were paid on a piece rate basis; that the electric power feeding the sewing machines was turned on before 8:00 a. m. and was left on during the lunch period between 12:00 noon and 12:45 p. m.; that “Many of the employees in the sewing room habitually commenced working when they arrived at the establishment which varied from 10 to 15 minutes of 8:00 a. m. and would work a portion of their lunch period, usually returning to work before 12:45 p. m., some as early as 12:25 p. m.”; that plaintiff did not have information sufficient to answer the interrogatory with desired specificity, but stated that substantially all of the sewing room employees, at one time or another, engaged in such “off-the-cloek” work; that this practice was one of long standing and from % to % of the employees, different ones at different times, were constantly engaged in such practice, and concluded with the statement: “Among those so engaged were Shirley F. Brown, Selma R. Brown, Elizabeth Davis, Ida B. Godfrey, Myrtice Howard, Louise Stanley and Lizzie Ward, but as heretofore stated the practice pertained to many more employees in the sewing room department.”

By Interrogatory No. 3 defendant inquired specifically whether plaintiff contended that any employee was paid less than 75