Attorney G. Anthony Long, who is representing Chanpac Inc., which did business as Club Jama, Ernest J. Strange, Thelma Strange, and 10 Does, said they are moving for summary judgment on the issue of individual coverage against all 10 plaintiffs — the former dancers — on their overtime claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Long said his clients are asking the court’s reconsideration of the denial of summary judgment on the enterprise claim after the court ruled on the plaintiffs “unsubstantiated claim that the [defendants’] tax returns are unreliable.”
Long said his clients’ business gross receipt tax showed that “Chanpac earned less than $500,000 in gross revenues for 2007 and 2006.”
Long said: “Summary judgment is appropriate on the individual coverage issue as plaintiffs cannot demonstrate that they moved in interstate commerce or foreign commerce on a regular and recurrent basis as part of their employment duties.”
He said “manifest error requires consideration of the denial of summary judgment on the enterprise coverage issue.”
“The facts and law demonstrate that the plaintiffs have failed to proffer any admissible or reliable evidence that the 2007 and 2006 business gross receipt tax returns are deficient and that [Club Jama] had income of $500,000 or more in 2007 or that defendants had income of $500,000 or more in 2006,” Long said.
He said his clients are entitled to summary judgment on the enterprise coverage issue.
Visiting Senior Judge Robert J. Bryan granted the motion as to the individual coverage under the Fair Labor and Standards Act, “except that the motion is denied without prejudice as to the question of individual coverage under the FLSA based on movement of persons.”
Bryan denied the motion as to the viability of the FLSA in the CNMI, and as to the enterprise coverage under the FLSA.
Last year, the plaintiffs, through Colin, sued the defendants for breach of contract, and for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay the plaintiffs’ overtime compensation.
