Free Answer to Complaint - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:07-cv-00052-SLR

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Filed 02/26/2007

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE AUBREY WESTON, et al., * * Plaintiff, * v. * * MOUNTAIRE FARMS, INC., et al. * * Defendants. * ______________________________/

Civil Action No. 1:07-cv-00052

ANSWER Defendants Mountaire Farms, Inc. and Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Inc., answer the Complaint as follows: 1. Paragraph 1 describes the action and does not require an answer. 2. Admitted. 3. Admitted. 4. Denied. 5. Admitted. 6. Admitted. 7. Admitted as to Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Inc. Plaintiff was not employed by Mountaire Farms, Inc. 8. Admitted as to Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Inc. Plaintiff was not employed by Mountaire Farms, Inc. 9. Admitted as to Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Inc. Plaintiff was not employed by Mountaire Farms, Inc.

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10. Admitted as to Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Inc. Plaintiff was not employed by Mountaire Farms, Inc. 11. Admitted as to Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Inc. Plaintiff was not employed by Mountaire Farms, Inc. 12. Admitted as to Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Inc. Plaintiff was not employed by Mountaire Farms, Inc. 13. Admitted as to Mountaire Farms of Delaware, Inc that Wise was a Crew Leader. He is now retired. Plaintiff was not employed by Mountaire Farms, Inc. 14. Admitted. 14. (There are two paragraph 14s) Admitted. 15. Admitted. 16. Admitted. 17. Denied. 18. Admitted that Plaintiffs keep time records for their crews. 19. Denied. 20. Denied. 21. Denied. 22. Denied. 23. Denied. 24. Denied. 25. Denied. 26. Denied. 27. Denied.

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28. Denied. 29. Denied. 30. Denied. 31. Admitted or denied in accordance with above. 32. Denied. 33. Denied. 34. Admitted or denied in accordance with above. 35. Admitted. 36. Denied. AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES 1. Plaintiffs are exempt from overtime pursuant to the executive exemption. 2. Claims arising before the applicable limitations period are time barred. 3. Defendants acted in good faith and had reasonable grounds for believing that their conduct was not a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 4. Travel time before arrival at the first farm and after departure from the last farm is excluded from working time under the Portal-to-Portal Act and Fair Labor Standards Act. 5. Plaintiffs' state law claims fail to state a claim for which relief can be granted. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Roger D. Landon _____ Roger D. Landon, Esq. Bar No. 2460 MURPHY & LANDON 1011 Centre Road, #210 Wilmington, DE 19805 Telephone: (302) 472-8100 Facsimile: (302) 472-8135

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Arthur M. Brewer Eric Hemmendinger SHAWE & ROSENTHAL, LLP 20 S. Charles St., 11th Floor Baltimore, MD 21201 Telephone: (410) 752-1040 Facsimile: (410) 752-8861 Attorneys for Defendants

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE This is to certify that a copy of the Defendants' Answer and Affirmative Defenses was served electronically this 26th day of February, 2007, upon: Jeffrey K. Martin, Esquire 1509 Gilpin Avenue Wilmington, DE 19806

/s/ Roger D. Landon_________ Roger D. Landon, Esq.

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