Use this button to switch between dark and light mode.

Experience a New Era in Legal Research with Free Access to Lexis+

Abell v. Sky Bridge Res., LLC

Abell v. Sky Bridge Res., LLC

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

October 19, 2017, Filed

File Name: 17a0583n.06

No. 16-5990

Opinion

 [*464]  WHITE, J., delivered the opinion of the court in which BATCHELDER and ROGERS, JJ., joined except as to the issue of the Kentucky Wage and Hour Act discussed in Part IV.B.2. BATCHELDER, J. (pp. 26-29), delivered the opinion of the court with regard to the Kentucky Wage and Hour Act, in which ROGERS, J., joined, and WHITE, J. dissented in Part IV.B.2 of her opinion.

HELENE N. WHITE, Circuit Judge. Steven Abell, Rebecca Blades, Michael Hartman, Joshua Jackson, Adam Lardner, Michael Marrero, Kishma McCray, Christopher Pasiuk, Robert Pugh, Chad Spaulding, James Webb, Timothy Wemes, [**2]  and Michael Woolard (Plaintiffs) are all former employees of Sky Bridge Resources, LLC (Sky Bridge). Plaintiffs allege Sky Bridge breached their employment contracts and violated both the Fair Labor Standards Act (the FLSA) and the Kentucky Wage and Hour Act (the KWHA) by undercompensating them for travel time. The district court granted summary judgment to Sky Bridge, and Plaintiffs appeal. We REVERSE IN PART, AFFIRM IN PART, and REMAND for further proceedings.

 [*465]  I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts

Sky Bridge is a recruiting firm with an office in Louisville, Kentucky, that provides information technology consultants and technicians to help clients design and manage their computer systems. One of those clients is Kindred Healthcare (Kindred), a company that operates hospitals and other medical facilities. Sky Bridge hired Plaintiffs to provide contract services at Kindred facilities. Plaintiffs' jobs involved travel to locations around the country, typically, but not always, by air, with Plaintiffs usually departing Louisville early Monday morning and returning to Louisville Friday afternoon or evening.

Before beginning their work for Sky Bridge, each plaintiff signed a substantially identical employment [**3]  contract (the Employment Agreement). In relevant part, the template Employment Agreement provides:

Read The Full CaseNot a Lexis Advance subscriber? Try it out for free.

Full case includes Shepard's, Headnotes, Legal Analytics from Lex Machina, and more.

715 Fed. Appx. 463 *; 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 20642 **; 168 Lab. Cas. (CCH) P36,569; 2017 FED App. 0583N (6th Cir.); 2017 WL 4711917

STEVEN ABELL, ET AL., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. SKY BRIDGE RESOURCES, LLC, Defendant-Appellee.

Notice: NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION. SIXTH CIRCUIT RULE 28 LIMITS CITATION TO SPECIFIC SITUATIONS. PLEASE SEE RULE 28 BEFORE CITING IN A PROCEEDING IN A COURT IN THE SIXTH CIRCUIT. IF CITED, A COPY MUST BE SERVED ON OTHER PARTIES AND THE COURT. THIS NOTICE IS TO BE PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED IF THIS DECISION IS REPRODUCED.

Prior History:  [**1] ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY.

Abell v. Sky Bridge Res., LLC, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68536 (W.D. Ky., May 25, 2016)

CORE TERMS

travel, workday, travel time, Plaintiffs', employment agreement, hours worked, overtime, district court, ambiguous, parties, worktime, principal activity, regulations, calculations, regular, time spent, wages, working hours, silent, grant summary judgment, compensated, counted, spent, terms, federal law, employees, cuts, extrinsic evidence, dictionary, contracts

Civil Procedure, Appeals, Standards of Review, De Novo Review, Summary Judgment, Appellate Review, Standards of Review, Entitlement as Matter of Law, Appropriateness, Genuine Disputes, Materiality of Facts, Legal Entitlement, Business & Corporate Compliance, Breach, Breach of Contract Actions, Elements of Contract Claims, Contracts Law, Contract Interpretation, Intent, Parol Evidence, Ambiguities & Contra Proferentem, Trials, Jury Trials, Province of Court & Jury, Contract Conditions & Provisions, Contracts Law, Contract Conditions & Provisions, Contract Interpretation, Labor & Employment Law, Wage & Hour Laws, Scope & Definitions, Reviewability of Lower Court Decisions, Preservation for Review, Scope & Definitions, Overtime & Work Periods, Judgments, Evidentiary Considerations