Zheng v. Liberty Apparel Co.

355 F.3d 61 (2003)

From our private database of 46,200+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Zheng v. Liberty Apparel Co.

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
355 F.3d 61 (2003)

Play video

Facts

Liberty Apparel Company (Liberty) (defendant) was a garment-manufacturing company. Liberty employees designed garment patterns, created sample garments, purchased the necessary fabric for the garments, and cut the fabric. Liberty then delivered the cut fabric to contractors who employed workers to sew and finalize the garments. These garment-assembly workers were paid by the piece for their work. Ling Nan Zheng and 25 other workers (the workers) (plaintiffs) worked in a garment factory in New York City. The workers’ immediate employers were six contractors who contracted with Liberty and other garment manufacturers to perform assembly work. The workers claimed that they spent roughly 70 to 75 percent of their worktime assembling Liberty garments and that Liberty employees visited the factory between two and four times per week to supervise the workers. The Liberty employees inspected the finished garments and told the workers if any corrections needed to be made. The workers brought an action against the contractors and Liberty in federal district court alleging that the workers were not being paid appropriate wages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York law. The workers asserted that although they were directly employed by the contractors, Liberty should be considered their joint employer for purposes of liability under the FLSA and New York law because the workers primarily worked on Liberty garments, performed a function integral to Liberty’s manufacturing business, and worked under Liberty’s supervision. However, Liberty argued that the contractors should be considered the workers’ sole employers. The district court granted summary judgment in Liberty’s favor after concluding that Liberty did not have sufficient control over the workers to be considered the workers’ joint employer. The workers appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Cabranes, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 796,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials
  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 796,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 796,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,200 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership