Opinion ID: 723390
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Common Control or Unified Operations

Text: 7 In determining whether there is common control, courts heavily emphasize common ownership. See, e.g., Reich v. Bay, Inc., 23 F.3d 110, 115 (5th Cir.1994); Grim Hotel, 747 F.2d at 970; Donovan v. Easton Land & Dev., Inc., 723 F.2d 1549, 1552 (11th Cir.1984). Komoda, the owner of Japan Enterprise Corporation's (JEC's) Micronesia Club and previous owner of Ameriana's Happiness Club, is the common link of ownership among the companies. Although Eizo Tambo was the president and majority owner of SFG, Komoda contributed substantially to the funding and organization of the corporation. See 29 C.F.R. § 779.221 ( 'Common' control includes the sharing of control and it is not limited to sole control or complete control by one person or corporation.). Komoda was an SFG director and the secretary/treasurer, described himself as the vice president, and owned 25% of the shares. 8 Other factors also demonstrate that SFG was under common control by the enterprise. Komoda hired SFG's two managers from nightclubs he owned in Japan. He directed the Mayten managers to begin complying with the FLSA as each violation surfaced. See Grim Hotel, 747 F.2d at 970 (two factors are of the utmost significance: whether a common person had the power to hire and fire the manager in each company and whether a common person could approve adherence to the FLSA). When SFG dissolved, Komoda signed the dissolution papers. See Easton Land, 723 F.2d at 1552 ([D]eterminative question is whether a common entity has the power to control the related business operations.). We conclude that SFG was under common control.