Perdomo v. 113-117 Realty, LLC

Background

Julian Perdomo brought a proposed collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and a proposed class action under New York labor laws against 113-117 Realty, LLC, Direct Property Management, LLC, and Lawrence Marolda. He sought unpaid compensation and alleged violations of federal and state wage-and-hour notice and wage-statement requirements. He also asserted retaliation claims under both laws.

Perdomo alleged that he worked as a maintenance and repair worker from July 2013 through February 2018. He alleged that he was paid a fixed weekly salary, worked 56 scheduled hours per week plus at least six additional on-call hours, and was not paid overtime. He also alleged that he worked without daily lunch breaks, worked 10 or more hours on three weekdays without receiving spread-of-hours pay, and did not receive proper wage notices or wage statements. He further alleged that he complained to property managers and Lawrence Marolda about unpaid overtime and that defendants terminated him on or about February 21, 2018.

Motion to Dismiss

The defendants moved to dismiss the second amended complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), which tests whether a complaint states a legally sufficient claim. They argued that the court should disregard the second amended complaint because it differed from earlier pleadings.

The court rejected that argument. It held that the earlier allegations were clarifying but inconsistent, rather than directly contradictory. The second amended complaint therefore remained the operative pleading, meaning the court evaluated the motion against that version.

FLSA Retaliation

The court held that Perdomo plausibly alleged FLSA retaliation. His alleged complaints to Marolda that his compensation was incorrect and that he was not paid overtime were sufficiently clear to give the employer fair notice that he was asserting rights protected by the FLSA. His alleged termination was an adverse employment action, and the alleged termination within weeks of his complaint supported a causal connection at the motion-to-dismiss stage.

New York Retaliation

The court held that the New York labor-law retaliation claim also survived. The complaint alleged that Perdomo made complaints directly to Marolda, conduct that the court found was protected under the New York law at issue.

FLSA Wage Claims

The court held that Perdomo adequately alleged an FLSA unpaid-overtime claim. He alleged that he was a non-exempt employee, that the defendants were covered employers, that he worked more than 40 hours per week, and that he received a fixed salary without overtime pay.

The court also held that he plausibly alleged a claim based on the failure to post required FLSA notices about employee rights. Although the allegations on this issue were sparse, the court found that the complaint as a whole plausibly alleged that the defendants failed to post the required notices.

New York Wage Claims

The court held that Perdomo’s New York overtime claim survived for the same general reasons as his FLSA overtime claim. It also held that his allegations that he regularly worked 10 or more hours on three days per week without additional compensation adequately stated a New York spread-of-hours claim.

The court further held that Perdomo adequately alleged claims based on the failure to post required New York wage-and-hour notices and the failure to maintain or provide required wage statements. It also held that his allegation that defendants failed to provide lunch or meal breaks plausibly alleged a violation of New York law, even though the FLSA itself does not require lunch breaks.

Supplemental Jurisdiction

The court retained supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claims because the federal and state claims arose from a common set of facts and Perdomo had adequately alleged federal claims.

Disposition

The court denied defendants’ motion to dismiss. The decision allowed the pleaded claims to proceed but did not resolve whether the defendants ultimately violated the FLSA or New York law.