Task: songer_appel1_1_2

What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals.
Intervenors who participated as parties at the courts of appeals should be counted as either appellants or respondents when it can be determined whose position they supported. For example, if there were two plaintiffs who lost in district court, appealed, and were joined by four intervenors who also asked the court of appeals to reverse the district court, the number of appellants should be coded as six.
When coding the detailed nature of participants, use your personal knowledge about the participants, if you are completely confident of the accuracy of your knowledge, even if the specific information is not in the opinion. For example, if "IBM" is listed as the appellant it could be classified as "clearly national or international in scope" even if the opinion did not indicate the scope of the business. 

Your task concerns the first listed appellant. The nature of this litigant falls into the category "private business (including criminal enterprises)". Your task is to classify the scope of this business into one of the following categories: "local" (individual or family owned business, scope limited to single community; generally proprietors, who are not incorporated); "neither local nor national" (e.g., an electrical power company whose operations cover one-third of the state); "national or multi-national" (assume that insurance companies and railroads are national in scope); and "not ascertained".

STEPHEN H. ANDERSON, Circuit Judge.
This appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) presents a single substantive issue: whether federal antidiscrimination laws protecting employees applied to the plaintiff, Marilyn Wheeler, during the time she was a general partner of the accounting firm of Main Hurdman, a general partnership.
Marilyn Wheeler, a certified public accountant, was employed as an accountant by Main Hurdman, in progressively responsible positions, for nine years, following which she was made a partner in the firm. Seventeen months later, at age forty-seven, she was expelled from the firm. She sued Main Hurdman alleging that the partnership discriminated against her in compensation and work assignments, and expelled her because of her age or sex, in violation of: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, (“Title VII”) 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e to 2000e-17; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634; and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, 29 U.S.C. §§ 206(d), a subpart of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219.
Main Hurdman moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b) and 12(h)(3), for want of subject matter jurisdiction. It alleged that Wheeler’s complaint did not state a claim under Title VII, the ADEA, or the Equal Pay Act “because as a partner of the Firm she was not an employee” within the definitions of those Acts. The motion was treated as one for summary judgment by the district court because affidavits were submitted, and was denied. In its order denying the motion the district court concluded that although a partner, Wheeler was also an employee for purposes of each of the Acts. It stated that it was bound by Goldberg v. Whitaker House Coop., 366 U.S. 28, 81 S.Ct. 933, 6 L.Ed.2d 100 (1961), to apply an “economic realities” test which, in turn, dictated the conclusion reached. The court then certified the question of coverage of the Acts for immediate appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), as a controlling question of law as to which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion. We reverse.
NATURE OF THE MOTION UNDER REVIEW
As a preliminary matter, this court must decide whether it was appropriate for the district court to “convert” the defendant’s motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment. Main Hurdman asserts that its motion was a Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and that it was inappropriate to convert it into a motion for summary judgment absent notice to the parties.
The appellant’s motion does appear to be a 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. As a general rule, a 12(b)(1) motion cannot be converted into a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56. Nichols v. United States, 796 F.2d 361, 366 (10th Cir.1986) (quoting 5 C. Wright, A. Miller & M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1366 (Supp. 1986)). See also Crawford v. United States, 796 F.2d 924 (7th Cir.1986); Stanley v. CIA, 639 F.2d 1146, 1157-58 (5th Cir. Unit B Mar. 1981). There is, however, a widely recognized exception to this rule. If the jurisdictional question is intertwined with the merits of the case, the issue should be resolved under 12(b)(6) or Rule 56. Timberlane v. Bank of America, 749 F.2d 1378 (9th Cir.1984) (“Timberlane //”); Sun Valley Gas, 711 F.2d at 139; Adams v. Bain, 697 F.2d 1213, 1219 (4th Cir.1982); Eaton v. Dorchester Development, Inc., 692 F.2d 727, 733 (11th Cir.1982); Black v. Payne, 591 F.2d 83, 86 n. 1 (9th Cir.1979); see also J. Moore & J. Lucas, Moore’s Federal Practice ¶ 12.07[2.-1] at 12-51 (1986).
When subject matter jurisdiction is dependent upon the same statute which provides the substantive claim in the case, the jurisdictional claim and the merits are considered to be intertwined. Clark v. Tarrant County, 798 F.2d 736, 742 (5th Cir.1986) (Title VII) (determination of whether defendant was an “employer”); Timberlane II, 749 F.2d at 1381-82; Sun Valley Gas, 711 F.2d at 139; Timberlane I, 549 F.2d at 602; McConnell v. Frank Howard Allen & Co., 574 F.Supp. 781, 783-84 (N.D.Cal.1983). Courts have invoked this rule when subject matter jurisdiction has turned on whether a particular investment was a “security” under the federal securities statutes. Odom v. Slavik, 703 F.2d 212, 215-16 (6th Cir.1983); Mason v. Unkeless, 618 F.2d 597, 598 (9th Cir.1980); Smith v. Gross, 604 F.2d 639, 641 (9th Cir.1979); Black v. Payne, 591 F.2d 83 (9th Cir.1979); Roark v. Belvedere, Ltd., 633 F.Supp. 765, 770 (S.D.Ohio 1985); McConnell, 574 F.Supp. at 783-84.
We find that the determination of whether Wheeler qualifies as an employee under the federal discrimination statutes is both a jurisdictional question and an aspect of the substantive claim in her discrimination action. Since both parties have submitted additional evidence beyond the pleadings, and since the district court relied on this information, the motion was appropriately characterized as a motion for summary judgment.
Main Hurdman argues that it was not given the notice to which it was entitled prior to the court converting and ruling on the motion as a motion for summary judgment. The Tenth Circuit does require notice under such circumstances to prevent “unfair surprise.” Nichols, 796 F.2d at 364. In this case, however, there is no unfair surprise. Both parties submitted material beyond the pleadings. We have previously held that when a party submits material beyond the pleadings in support of or opposing a motion to dismiss, the prior action on the part of the parties puts them on notice that the judge may treat the motion as a Rule 56 motion. Id. The fact that Main Hurdman characterizes its motion as a Rule 12(b)(1) motion does not change our analysis. Main Hurdman identified its motion only as a 12(b) motion without specifying a particular subsection. Although the motion was made on the ground that there was a lack of subject matter jurisdiction, it was also based on the ground that Wheeler “does not and cannot state a claim” upon which relief could be granted. Main Hurdman’s Motion to Dismiss at 11118, 10, 12. Under these circumstances, it was appropriate for the court to consider the motion as a motion in the alternative under 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) and to convert the motion to a Rule 56 motion when extraneous evidence was submitted in the form of affidavits by both parties. We find that it was not error for the district court to convert the motion and we will review it as a motion for summary judgment.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
In reviewing a district court’s grant or denial of summary judgment, we apply a de novo standard of review to legal determinations. See Carey v. United States Postal Serv., 812 F.2d 621, 623 (10th Cir.1987); see also Hydro Conduit Corp. v. American-First Title & Trust Co., 808 F.2d 712, 714 (10th Cir.1986) (“When a district court has granted, summary judgment, the court of appeals applies a de novo standard of review.”); Baker v. Penn Mutual Life Ins. Co., 788 F.2d 650, 653 (10th Cir.1986); Morgan v. Mobil Oil Corp., 726 F.2d 1474, 1477 (10th Cir.1984). As for allegations of fact by the parties, the general rule is that our view of the facts must indulge all reasonable inferences in favor of the party opposing a motion for summary judgment. Franks v. Nimmo, 796 F.2d 1230, 1235 (10th Cir.1986); Baker, 788 F.2d at 653; Bindley v. Amoco Prod. Co., 639 F.2d 671, 672 (10th Cir.1981). In this case, the essential facts governing our disposition on appeal (as opposed to how those facts are characterized or legal conclusions argued from them by the parties) are uncontested. j
BACKGROUND
Wheeler’s credentials, including professional activities and affiliations, are substantial. Her employment experience with Main Hurdman was characterized by steady advancement as an employee-accountant. She was made a partner of Main Hurdman in April 1982. At that time approximately 14%, or 502 of Main Hurd-man’s 3570 personnel were partners.
Partnership consisted at least of the following: election to the partnership and execution of the Firm’s partnership agreement; change in compensation from salary to a share of the Firm’s profits, paid by draw and an allocation of profits based on points; a contribution to capital; establishment of a capital account; unlimited personal liability for the debts and obligations of the partnership; rights under the partnership agreement to vote on such matters as amendments of the partnership agreement, approval of mergers with other accounting firms of a certain size, admission of new partners, termination of a partner’s interest, approval of draws, shares of net profits, special distributions, and any other income to be allocated to any partners, and dissolution of the firm. In addition, Wheeler became eligible for certain rights and privileges which were enjoyed only by partners of the firm, such as the right to sign audit reports and tax returns and the right to be reimbursed for membership dues in certain clubs; and, she was subject to involuntary termination of her interest in the partnership only by either: (1) a unanimous vote of the firm’s policy board, or (2) an affirmative vote of no less than 75% of the members of the firm’s advisory board, or (3) an affirmative vote of no less than 75% of all partners casting votes. Furthermore, by becoming a partner Wheeler surrendered certain employee benefits including prepaid health insurance and life insurance.
Wheeler and the EEOC effectively concede that under laws governing partnerships Wheeler was a bona fide and general partner of Main Hurdman. They similarly concede that Main Hurdman is a bona fide general partnership. It is undisputed that the foregoing facts relating to Wheeler’s admission to partnership are not a sham, and have legal substance. Consonant with those facts, there is no allegation that Wheeler was made a partner, or denominated as such and was continued in that status, as a device for avoiding the Acts in question.
However, Wheeler and the EEOC, while not contesting Wheeler’s partnership status, point to other facts which they contend portray the economic reality of employee status co-existing with partner status. After being made a partner Wheeler’s work remained unchanged. She had the same client load, same duties and responsibilities, same support staff, and was supervised in her work and work assignments, by the same department head. A personnel file was maintained with respect to her and all other personnel, including partners. The amounts charged for her services were established by managing partners. The number of partnership points allocated to her for income purposes was, as a practical matter, determined by the managing partner of her office. Also as a practical matter, a recommendation by the same managing partner that she or any other partner of that office be expelled from the partnership was the final word, since such recommendations, according to Wheeler, were routinely adopted and appeals of such decisions pursuant to terms of the partnership agreement were unavailing. Wheeler Aff. para. 14.
Wheeler and the EEOC also emphasize that Main Hurdman is a large firm, with eighty offices nationwide. They portray it as a highly organized, centrally managed, business institution of indefinite and ongoing duration; in other words, it looks like a corporation. The operating structure of the partnership, within which Wheeler functioned, is set forth on an exhibit to Wheeler’s affidavit in the district court. That exhibit shows the partners of Main Hurdman as the governing body, below which is a policy board and an advisory board to which partners are elected. Below those two boards there is a managing partner/CEO and a chairman who, presumably, are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the partnership. Thereafter, there appear on the organizational chart a myriad of assignments, including international, marketing, human resources, management consulting, professional standards, tax services, finance, and so on. The chart also shows a partner in charge of operations and under that partner six geographical regions with a partner in charge of each. Within each region the location of Main Hurdman offices is identified, with a local “partner in charge” of each office. The local partner in charge oversees assignment of department heads, allocation of partner credit for client hours managed, the establishment of performance goals for all personnel, assignment of CPAs to clients, the amount to be charged for services, and the hours, dates and places when and where work is to be performed. It is contended that although each partner is entitled to vote at annual or special meetings, the votes are primarily for the purpose of ratifying decisions made by the managing partner, policy board or “nominating” committee.
Finally, Wheeler and the EEOC make much of the fact that as a partner Wheeler’s initial contribution to capital was just $4,000, representing only a.000058 share of the firm’s total capital account. It is also a fact, however, that thirteen months later Wheeler signed a letter of “withdrawal” from the partnership in which reference was made to her capital account containing a minimum of $15,000 plus an unspecified additional balance, plus additional profit allocations to be determined twelve months from the date of termination — all of which was to be paid to Wheeler as a terminating general partner. West Aff., Ex. B. Thus, whatever the true percentage of Wheeler’s partnership interest, it translated into sums of money which were not insignificant.
In April 1983, one year after being made a partner, Wheeler was informed by Richard West, Manager of the Denver office, that she would be severed from the Firm as of September 30 of that year. A letter of “withdrawal” signed by West and Wheeler set forth certain financial and other terms relating to the severance, all of which apparently were honored by the parties. Official severance occurred on September 30, 1983. Following expulsion, Wheeler filed, in January 1984, a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. On October 22, 1984, the EEOC issued to Wheeler a Notice of Right to Sue. This suit, filed on January 22, 1985, followed.
I.
GENERAL STANDARDS GOVERNING REVIEW OF ANTIDISCRIM-INATION ACTS
In our review of the antidiscrim-ination laws we must be mindful of their remedial purposes, and liberally interpret their provisions to that end. Martinez v. Orr, 738 F.2d 1107, 1110 (10th Cir.1984) (Title VII) (quoting Davis v. Valley Distributing Co., 522 F.2d 827, 832 (9th Cir.1975), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1090, 97 S.Ct. 1099, 51 L.Ed.2d 535 (1977)); see also Owens v. Rush, 636 F.2d 283, 287 (10th Cir.1980) (Title VII). Such interpretation, however, cannot be used as a justification for rewriting the statutes. Legislative ends are circumscribed by statutory means. Thus, while the case before us deals with a charge of discrimination, the root of our inquiry is one of statutory interpretation.
II.
PARTNER AS COVERED EMPLOYEE UNDER THE ANTIDISCRIM-INATION ACTS
A. The Controlling Statutory Language. Title VII provides:
(a) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer—
(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a). The language of the ADEA is nearly identical. The Equal
Pay Act of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)(1) provides:
No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions.
The statutory definition of employee under each of these Acts is virtually identical, and circular in its description. Title YII defines employee as “an individual employed by an employer.” It defines employer as “a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen or more employees.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b). The ADEA definition is identical except that it requires an employer to employ twenty or more employees. See 29 U.S.C. § 630(b). The definition of employer under the FLSA is equally circular: “ ‘Employer’ includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee.” 29 U.S.C. § 203(d), Under each act, a “person” is defined to include partnerships. 29 U.S.C. § 203(a); 29 U.S.C. § 630(a); 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(a).
All parties acknowledge that nothing in the legislative history of these Acts explicitly addresses the definition of employee. In general, cases construing definitions of one of the Acts are to be viewed as persuasive authority when interpreting the others. See Lorillard v. Pons, 434 U.S. 575, 98 S.Ct. 866, 55 L.Ed.2d 40 (1978); Hyland v. New Haven Radiology Assocs., 794 F.2d 793 (2nd Cir.1986).
B. Judicial and Agency Postures.
1. Judicial Interpretation.
To date, courts have shown no disposition to extend these statutory employee protections to general partners. The most widely recognized recent case is Hishon v. King & Spaulding, 678 F.2d 1022 (11th Cir.1982), rev’d on other grounds, 467 U.S. 69, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984). That case involved a Title VII claim asserted by a female lawyer-associate with respect to her firm’s alleged refusal to consider her for partnership. In reversing the Eleventh Circuit the Supreme Court concluded “that in appropriate circumstances partnership consideration may qualify as a term, condition, or privilege of a person’s employment” for purposes of Title VII coverage. Hishon, 467 U.S. at 78 n. 10, 104 S.Ct. at 2235 n. 10. However, the Court did not reach the question of application of Title VII to partners themselves. Thus, the views of the Eleventh Circuit on that subject remain as stated in its opinion in Hishon. There, the circuit court expressed reluctance to equate partners with employees, stating “the partners own the partnership; they are not its ‘employees’ under Title VII. We find a clear distinction between employees of a corporation and partners of a law firm.” Hishon, 678 F.2d at 1028.
The Seventh Circuit expressed similar views in Burke v. Friedman, 556 F.2d 867 (7th Cir.1977), which involved an accounting firm. The question in Burke was whether individual partners of the partnership could be counted as employees for purposes of the fifteen-employee minimum for Title VII coverage. The Seventh Circuit held they could not, under the facts of that case. In reaching its holding, the court said:
Partners manage and control the business and share in the profits and losses. See Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Tower, 327 U.S. 280, 66 S.Ct. 532, 90 L.Ed. 670 (1946); Wilson v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 161 F.2d 661, 664 (7th Cir.1947). In light of the foregoing, we do not see how partners can be regarded as employees rather than as employers who own and manage the operation of the business.
* H» # # * *
[Section] 2000e(f) does not expand the definition of employee to include a partner.
Id. at 869-70 (footnote omitted).
The reasoning in Burke was reconfirmed by an en banc panel of the Seventh Circuit in 1984 in EEOC v. Dowd & Dowd, Ltd., 736 F.2d 1177 (7th Cir.1984). In Dowd, it was held that lawyer/shareholders of a professional corporation were not employees for purposes of Title VII coverage because they were, in essence, partners in a partnership. Within the past year the Second Circuit has taken an opposite view with respect to professional corporations, holding that radiologist/shareholders in a professional corporation were employees of the corporation, rather than partners, for purposes of ADEA coverage. Hyland v. New Haven Radiology Assocs., 794 F.2d 793 (2nd Cir.1986). See also Reiver v. Murdoch & Walsh, 625 F.Supp. 998 (D.Del.1985). But the Second Circuit stressed the importance of the chosen form of business entity, stating: “While those who own shares in a corporation may or may not be employees, they cannot under any circumstances be partners in the same enterprise because the roles are mutually exclusive.” Id. at 798. As to partnerships themselves the court stated:
It is generally accepted that the benefits of the antidiscrimination statutes... do not extend to those who properly are classified as partners.
# * * * * #
The fact that certain modern partnerships and corporations are practically indistinguishable in structure and operation, however, is no reason for ignoring a form of business organization freely chosen and established.
Id. at 797-98.
Two federal district courts have recently held that partners are not employees for purposes of the ADEA. Maher v. Price Waterhouse, Civ. No. 84-1522 C (2) (E.D.Mo. April 8, 1985) [Available on Westlaw, DCT database]; Holland v. Ernst & Whinney, 35 Empl.Prac.Dec. (CCH) ¶ 34,-653 (N.D.Ala. August 17,1984). Both cases involved partners in “Big Eight” accounting firms.
Finally, in his much-quoted concurring opinion in Hishon, Justice Powell stated:
I write to make clear my understanding that the Court’s opinion should not be read as extending Title VII to the management of a law firm by its partners. The reasoning of the Court’s opinion does not require that the relationship among partners be characterized as an ‘employment’ relationship to which Title VII would apply.
467 U.S. at 79, 104 S.Ct. at 2236. The significance of Justice Powell’s observation must, of course, be tempered by the fact that no other justice joined the concurring opinion, and by allusions to a highly interactive partnership characterized by common agreement or consent among the partners.
2. Agency Interpretation.
Turning from cases to the question of relevant agency interpretation of these Acts we are aided but little. The EEOC refers us to no directly relevant published agency positions regarding the ADEA and FLSA. Two references, twenty years apart, are cited pertaining to Title VII coverage of partners. Both sides rely on them. The first is a 1965 General Counsel opinion letter, which the Commission apparently cannot find, Brief of EEOC at 24 n. 20, but which is asserted by Main Hurdman to rule that partners of a law firm may not be employees. In support of its view, Main Hurdman refers to a listing of the opinion published in a quarterly digest, “Digest of Legal Interpretations Issued or Adopted by the Commission,” October 9, 1965 through December 31, 1965, § 1(B)(6) at 2-3. In contrast, the EEOC refers to the annual Digest listing of the same opinion, which states that although the specific ruling found that partners were not employees, “the determination of whether partners of the [law] firm are ‘employees’ within the meaning of Title VII must be determined on a case-by-case basis.” EEOC, First Annual Digest of Legal Interpretations, July 2, 1965 through July 1, 1966, § 1(B)(5) at 6. Neither reference is sufficiently explanatory to be helpful; they are so scanty and open to argument in almost every respect that they fall short of agency interpretation which guides us.
The second and only other reference on point given to us by the EEOC is a 1985 EEOC decision that partners in an eight-partner, twelve-employee law firm were not employees for Title VII purposes. EEOC Decision No. 85-4, 2 Empl.Prac. Guide (CCH) 11 6846 at 7040-41 (1985). The EEOC contends the decision is not inconsistent with its position that partners can be employees under Title VII, and that a case-by-case determination is required. Such argument is based on two considerations. First, a footnote in the decision refers to factors to be considered in determining whether an individual is a partner or an employee in a particular case. Second, the decision itself was based on its own facts. We do not view the decision, however, as squarely supporting the present EEOC position. The decision displays no agency inclination whatsoever to pursue an aggressive inquiry into whether or not, as a matter of economic reality, any of the partners involved in that case were dominated in their work, in management or control of partnership affairs, in decisions on sharing profits, or in any other respect. Yet that is the approach urged upon us by the EEOC in this case. In the 1985 decision all such factors were essentially decided by the Commission by reference to the written terms of the partnership agreement, with only a passing reference to an absence of evidence that the “business is carried out in any other way than as indicated in the partnership agreement.” Id. at 7040. The accompanying footnote, emphasized here by the EEOC, refers first to Justice Powell’s language in Hishon that “an employer may not evade the strictures of Title VII simply by labeling its employees as ‘partners.’ ” Id. at 7041 n. 4 (emphasis added). Following that quote the Commission states: “The Commission recognizes that there may be a case where an individual is called a partner, but who may really be an employee.” Id. (emphasis added). Only then is there reference to factors which may be relevant in making such a determination. It is evident from both the language and tone of that footnote that even as recently as 1985 the Commission did not envision the wholesale inquiries proposed here.
It is apparent that the EEOC has not historically espoused the stand it takes here. To the contrary, for many years following its creation under Title VII in 1964, the Commission by its relative silence and inaction, and its approach to the issue when raised, made it seem likely that it doubted any general coverage of partners by Title VII, excluding obvious sham situations. Thus, we accord less weight to the arguments of the EEOC in this case than if the Agency’s position had been clearly developed proximate in time to passage of Title VII or to the transfer of responsibility for the ADEA and the Equal Pay Act from the Department of Labor to the EEOC in 1979, and consistently applied thereafter.
Although not one court has applied the Acts to a bona fide general partner against his or her partners or partnership, it is not surprising that Wheeler and the EEOC press the issue now. In recent years, literally dozens of articles touching on the reach of the antidiscrimination statutes have been solidly in favor of definitions which would be broad enough to include general partners. Peripherally relevant extensions of coverage by the courts have occurred, Hishon being the most visible. See Lucido v. Cravath, Swaine & Moore, 425 F.Supp. 123 (S.D.N.Y.1977); EEOC v. Rinella & Rinella, 401 F.Supp. 175 (N.D.Ill.1975). See also EEOC v. Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., 775 F.2d 928 (8th Cir.1985), aff'g, 589 F.Supp. 534 (E.D.Mo.1984), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 106 S.Ct. 1263, 89 L.Ed.2d 572 (1986).
Furthermore, there are so many partnerships engaged in day to day commerce in this country in ever expanding numbers that the statistical chance of discrimination claims has increased as a result of growth alone. Then too, the changing status of women and minorities figures significantly in the equation. While partnerships of professionals have been common throughout the history of this country, as recently as twenty years ago relatively few women and minorities were represented, which may account for the early absence of discrimination suits against partnerships. Over the past two decades ever increasing numbers of women and minorities have been admitted into professional schools, thence into the professions. Additional years have been required for their advancement to partnership status. Finally, growing experience under and familiarity with these Acts is producing an increase in discrimination claims against partnerships.
These facts may provide a better or more complete explanation for the history of judicial and agency actions, omissions, or silence since 1964 concerning the merits of the issue of partners as employees under the Antidiscrimination Acts. Therefore, absence of a long-standing and reliable EEOC position is no surprise. Nonetheless, a disposition on the merits is made more difficult by its absence.
C. Partnership Attributes and Proposed Tests for Determining Employee Status.
Predictably both sides attempt to control the focus of our inquiry. Main Hurdman dwells largely on characteristics of partnerships, while Wheeler and the EEOC concentrate on traits associated with employment. With respect to employment, various tests and factors which have been judicially created and applied in other situations are proposed. The remedial nature of the Acts is stressed both in conjunction with tests for employee status, and as a justification of its own.
We address the parties’ positions first by reviewing aspects of partnerships generally, then by reviewing the proposed employee tests, then by analyzing them together.
1. Partnership Status Generally.
While there may be no federal partnership law, as Wheeler argues, partnerships are firmly embedded in our jurisprudence and commonly referred to in universally understood ways by Congress and the courts without the necessity of dissecting the partnership law of each state in order to derive meaning. By the time the FLSA was first enacted in 1938, the Uniform Partnership Act (“UPA”) had been adopted by eighteen states. When Title VII was enacted in 1964 and the ADEA in 1967, forty states had adopted the UPA as the governing body of partnership law. As of 1984, forty-eight states, several territories, and the District of Columbia had adopted the UPA. Only Georgia and Louisiana have not adopted the uniform act. 6 Unif. Laws Ann. 1 (Supp.1984) (table). Despite some differences in partnership law between states, the general indicia of partners and partnership are very similar across state lines. The UPA sets forth, among others, the following characteristics of a partner: (1) unlimited liability (§ 16); (2) the right to share in profits and participate in management subject to agreement between partners (§ 18(a), (e)); (3) the right and duty to act as an agent of the other partners (§ 9); and (4) shared ownership (§ 6). In Freese v. United States, 455 F.2d 1146, 1150-51 (10th Cir.1972), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 879, 93 S.Ct. 85, 34 L.Ed.2d 134 (1972), we stated that the parties’ intent was the touchstone for finding a partnership relationship.
Citing those indicia of partnership, Main Hurdman contends that a partner by definition is not an employee under traditional common law principles. Status as a co-owner precludes simultaneous status as an employee.
Multiple rebuttals are offered to that argument. Owners in other contexts can be employees. See Goldberg v. Whitaker House Coop., 366 U.S. 28, 81 S.Ct. 933, 6 L.Ed.2d 100 (1961) (members/owners of a knitting cooperative considered employees); Zimmerman v. North American Signal Co., 704 F.2d 347 (7th Cir.1983) (corporate vice-president and shareholder considered employee); EEOC v. First Catholic Slovak Ladies Ass’n, 694 F.2d 1068 (6th Cir.1982), (officers-directors considered employees), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 819, 104 S.Ct. 80, 78 L.Ed.2d 90 (1983); Hoy v. Progress Pattern Co., 217 F.2d 701 (6th Cir.1954) (shareholder, vice-president, director and chairman of board considered employee). Cf. Bonilla v. Oakland Scavenger Co., 697 F.2d 1297 (9th Cir.1982) (sale of corporate stock subject to Title VII where employment status is tied to stock ownership), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1251, 104 S.Ct. 3533, 82 L.Ed.2d 838 (1984); Marshall v. R. & M. Erectors, Inc., 429 F.Supp. 771 (D.Del.1977) (worker considered an employee and not a partner where there was no written partnership agreement or evidence of partner attributes). For many purposes evolving law now classifies partnerships as separate entities rather than an aggregate of partners; thus, partners can be classed as employees of the partnership entity. Furthermore, ownership in very large partnerships is de minimus on an individual basis (Wheeler as one of 500, for instance). Finally, big partnerships are like corporations: “Wall Street law firms and stock brokerage firms provide significant examples. These are often large, impersonal, highly structured enterprises of essentially perpetual duration.” Bellis v. United States, 417 U.S. 85, 93-94, 94 S.Ct. 2179, 2185-86, 40 L.Ed.2d 678 (1974).
Considering the many exceptions in the law we must agree with Wheeler and the EEOC that categorical absolutes are difficult to sustain in this area. However, there is no discernable trend to erase the traditional line between partners and employees. For instance, state courts defining “employee” for purposes of workmen’s compensation laws have usually refused to classify partners as employees absent express statutory authority. “With the exception of

Question: This question concerns the first listed appellant. The nature of this litigant falls into the category "private business (including criminal enterprises)". What is the scope of this business?
A. local
B. neither local nor national
C. national or multi-national
D. not ascertained
Answer:

Answer: A