Shultz v. Adair's Cafeterias, Inc.
Shultz v. Adair's Cafeterias, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
The Secretary of Labor brought suit under Section IV of the Fair Labor Standards Act,
The attendant facts are not disputed and appear substantially as the trial court found. Adair’s is a holding company, ninety-nine per cent owned by Gerald and Ralph Adair, which manages a restaurant, six cafeterias and Adair’s Catering Service, Inc. (the bakery). During the years from 1965 through January, 1967,
Adair’s maintains its central offices at N.E. 63rd Street, Oklahoma City. The warehouse and bakery are located in the same facility. Our attention here is focused on the twenty-seven employees engaged primarily in the preparation and delivery of pies and other pasteries from the bakery location to the eating establishments situated in and about Oklahoma City.
The introductory inquiry in cases of Fair Labor Standards Act application is coverage. 29 U.S.C. § 206(b) essentially requires every employer to pay each person employed by an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, as defined in § 203(s) (1), (2) or (4), or by an establishment described in § 203(s) (3) or (5), a minimum wage as described therein. 29 U.S.C. § 207(a) (2) summarily provides that an employer shall not cause workers who are employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce, as defined in § 203(s) (1) or (4), or by an establishment described in § 203(s) (3), to weekly work beyond specified hourly máximums without receiving remuneration above the regular hour wage as the statute provides. That the Adair concerns are within these coverage provisions is not appealed and we henceforth presume its application. The question presented here for decision is threefold: (a) is the “restaurant” exception in § 213(a) (2) (ii) an enterprise exception; (b) does the Adair corporate enterprise qualify as a § 213(a) (2) retail or service establishment; and (c) is the bakery itself a retail or service establishment?
The enactment of this federal law was an attempt by Congress to insure laboring men and women a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work.
The lower court refused to test the Adair enterprise, for exemption, on an individual establishment basis. Instead, all businesses, including the bakery, were viewed together as being proprie-tarily united and functionally integrated, and physical separation was considered immaterial. This proposition runs directly contrary to the letter and spirit of the Fair Labor Standards Act and does not comport with the cases interpreting that law.
Early in the life of this Act the same argument was posed before the Supreme Court and rejected as being obviously without merit. A. H. Phillips, Inc. v. Walling, 324 U.S. 490, 65 S.Ct. 807, 89 L.Ed. 1095, 157 A.L.R. 876 (1945) stands squarely for the lesson that an integrated enterprise function, performed in a physically distinct location, requires an independent determination of that establishment’s exemption status. The Court therein defined “establishment” as a distinct physical place of business. The key to the case was the physical distinction of the retail stores from the wholesale functions.
The exemption in § 213(a) (2) has a limited reach, touching only those retail or service establishments as are comparable to the local corner grocery store, local drug store or local department store which sells directly to the ultimate consumer. Prosperous retail businesses eventually lose their identity as establishments exempt from the Act. It may occur through an increased volume of in
Alternative grounds for dismissal in the trial court were § 213(a) (2) (iv) and (a) (20). As a predicate to implementing either, Adair must show the bakery to be a retail or service establishment,
The judgment of the District Court is accordingly reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings consistent herewith.
. Act of June 25, 1938, e. 676, 52 Stat. 1060, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq. All references hereinafter made are to the Act as amended in 1961, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., unless otherwise noted.
. 29 U.S.C. §§ 206 and 207.
. It is somewhat difficult to determine the precise grounds upon which the exemption was granted, since the court refers to § 213(a) (2) but then, as if to cite that subsection, quotes directly from § 213(a) (20). Although it is not plain from the record, we surmise another basis for decision to be § 213(a) (2) (iv). In an attempt to fully consider each ground for appeal, we will consider each alternatively.
. The record alludes to violations occurring subsequent to the effective date of the 1966 amendments but the briefs are barren of reference to any post-February 1, 1967, violations and the trial court’s conclusions specifically refer to the Act prior to the 1966 amendments’ effective date. It should also be noted that prior to trial, plaintiff dropped its request for an injunction for future violations since defendant was then in substantial compliance with the Act.
. By pretrial stipulation it was conceded that all corporate defendants are exempt from §§ 206 and 207 by 29 U.S.C. § 213 (a) (2) (ii), except Adair’s Catering Service. Inc., its parent corporation Adair's Cafeterias. Inc., and the latter's president and principal stockholder, Gerald Adair, and that Ralph Adair possessed no legal responsibility therein. Adair's also concedes that if the Act applies and if no exception is available, the 27 bakery employees were underpaid under §§ 206 and 207 and are due approximately $9730.
. Message of the President to Congress, May 24, 1934, as cited in A. II. Phillips, Inc. v. Walling. 324 U.S. 490, 493, 65 S.Ct. 807, 89 L.Ed. 1095, 157 A.L.R. 876 (1945).
. A. H. Phillips, Inc. v. Walling, 324 U.S. at 495-496, 65 S.Ct. 807.
. Mitchell v. Bekins Van & Storage Co., 231 F.2d 25, 27 (9th Cir. 1956).
. Mitchell v. Sunshine Dept. Stores, Inc., 292 F.2th 645 (5th Cir. 1961) ; Mitchell v. Birkett, 286 F.2d 474 (8th Cir. 1961); Armstrong Co. v. Walling, 161 F.2d 515 (1st Cir. 1947) ; cf. Bogash v. Baltimore Cigarette Service, 193 F.2d 291 (4th Cir. 1951) ; Walling v. Ritter Foods, 159 F.2d 35 (5th Cir. 1947) ; but see Mitchell v. T. F. Taylor Fertilizer Works, 233 F.2d 284 (5th Cir. 1956).
. Grimes v. Castleberry, 381 F.2d 758 (5th Cir. 1967); Mitchell v. Gammill, 245 F.2d 207 (5th Cir. 1957).
. Boisseau v. Mitchell, 218 F.2d 734, 738 (5th Cir. 1955); Armstrong Co. v. Walling, 161 F.2d 515 (1st Cir. 1947).
. See Armstrong Co. v. Walling, 161 F.2d 515 (1st Cir. 1947).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- George P. SHULTZ, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor v. ADAIR'S CAFETERIAS, INC., a Corporation, Adair's Northeast Cafeteria, Inc., a Corporation, Zuider Zee, Inc., a Corporation, Adair's Tropical Cafeteria, Inc., a Corporation, Adair's Catering Service, Inc., a Corporation, Adair's Norman Cafeteria, Inc., a Corporation, Adair's Capitol Investors Cafeteria, Inc., a Corporation, Adair's Uptown Cafeteria, Inc., a Corporation, Adair's Downtown Cafeteria, Inc., a Corporation, Gerald P. Adair, an individual, and Ralph Adair, an individual
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