Aguilo v. Vails Gate Cleaners Inc.

Background

Mireya Aguilo brought claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York Labor Law against Vails Gate Cleaners Inc., Exit 9, LLC, and Richard Massimi. She alleged that she and other non-management employees were paid less than the required minimum wage, were not paid overtime for hours worked over 40 per week, did not receive accurate wage statements, and were not paid required spread-of-hours premiums.

Aguilo worked in laundry-related roles at several of the defendants’ locations. She claimed that she commonly worked 54 to 62 hours per week and that other employees told her or showed her that they experienced similar wage practices. She sought conditional certification of an FLSA collective consisting of all non-managerial employees who worked at four locations from September 27, 2012, to the present. Defendants argued that Aguilo had not shown that all proposed members were similarly situated and argued, alternatively, that any collective should be limited to pressers and folders or store clerks.

Conditional certification standard

At the first stage of an FLSA collective action, a court decides whether potential participants should receive notice of the lawsuit. The plaintiff must make a modest factual showing that she and the potential participants were affected by a common policy or plan that violated the law. The court does not decide the ultimate merits, resolve factual disputes, or assess credibility at this stage. Later, after a fuller record, the court may decide whether the participants are actually similarly situated and whether the collective should continue.

Ruling on the proposed collective

The court held that Aguilo’s complaint and declaration met the modest factual showing for employees who performed work similar to hers. The court conditionally certified a collective of all pressers, folders, and laundry employees who worked at any of these four locations since September 27, 2015:

- Vails Gate Processing Center, 41 Wisner Avenue, Newburgh, New York; - Vails Gate Cleaners, 115 Temple Hill Road, New Windsor, New York; - Vails Gate Cleaners, 547 Route 32, Highland Mills, New York; and - Tailorland Newburgh, 21 Route 17K, Newburgh, New York.

The court declined to certify the broader group of all non-managerial employees. Aguilo did not provide enough specific information about the hours, wages, schedules, or working conditions of store clerks, janitors, general service employees, or delivery employees to support the same inference of similar treatment. The court therefore denied without prejudice her motion to certify that broader collective.

Notice and consent forms

The court limited the notice period to three years, from September 27, 2015, rather than six years. It concluded that a six-year notice period could confuse employees who might have New York-law claims but no FLSA claim, particularly because Aguilo had sought FLSA collective certification rather than certification of a New York class action under Rule 23.

The court required the proposed notice and consent forms to identify pressers, folders, and laundry employees rather than all non-management employees. It also required removal of the “Questions?” footer, addition of warnings that participants might have to attend depositions, respond to written discovery, testify at trial, and pay litigation costs, correction of defense counsel’s telephone number, and clarification that participants could retain other counsel or proceed without a lawyer. The court approved the immigration-status language, anti-retaliation language, 60-day opt-in period, employment-date fields, and the “From” paragraph on the first page.

The court allowed Aguilo to send a reminder notice 21 days before the opt-in deadline. It also granted Aguilo’s request for the defendants to provide the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of potential opt-in plaintiffs; the conclusion additionally directed production of email addresses.

Disposition

The court stated that Aguilo’s motion for conditional certification was granted in part and denied in part. It conditionally certified the narrower collective, denied without prejudice certification of the broader collective, directed revisions to the notice and consent forms, required the parties to meet and confer before submitting final versions, and directed the defendants to provide the potential opt-in plaintiffs’ contact information by July 14, 2020. The Clerk was asked to terminate the pending motion.