Musiello v. CBS Corporation

Background

Jacquelyn Musiello alleged that she worked for CBS Radio from December 10, 2012, through February 17, 2017, first as a staff accountant and later in payroll and human resources. She alleged that radio host Dan Taylor sexually harassed her, that CBS Radio did not properly respond to her complaint, and that she was constructively discharged after a hostile work environment. She also alleged that she worked more than 40 hours per week from 2015 until her departure but was not paid overtime.

Musiello brought class allegations involving hostile-work-environment discrimination, sexual harassment, disparate-impact discrimination, and unpaid overtime. She also brought individual retaliation and constructive-discharge claims. The claims were based on the New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law. CBS Corporation moved to dismiss the claims against it under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), which permits dismissal when a complaint does not state a legally sufficient claim.

Claims Against CBS Corporation

Musiello alleged that CBS Corporation and CBS Radio were a “single employer,” meaning that the parent company and subsidiary functioned as one employer for purposes of employment-law liability. The court applied a four-factor test examining: (1) how closely the companies’ operations were connected, (2) whether labor relations were centrally controlled, (3) whether management was shared, and (4) whether ownership or financial control was shared. The court identified centralized control over labor relations—especially who made final employment decisions—as the most important factor.

The court held that the complaint did not plausibly allege that CBS Corporation controlled CBS Radio’s employment decisions or had an employer-employee relationship with Musiello. The complaint’s general allegations about shared policies, human-resources systems, email addresses, payroll systems, ownership, and management were not enough. The court also found that allegations about CBS Corporation’s communications with CBS Radio concerning employee terminations did not connect those communications to Musiello’s employment. The allegations concerning CBS Radio personnel who controlled Musiello’s employment did not identify them as CBS Corporation employees.

Because the complaint did not adequately allege that CBS Corporation and CBS Radio were a single employer, the court dismissed Musiello’s New York State and New York City discrimination-related claims against CBS Corporation. The court also dismissed the portion of the putative class claims seeking to represent CBS Corporation employees. The court did not reach CBS Corporation’s argument that claims arising before February 14, 2017, were untimely.

Overtime Claims

The court separately dismissed Musiello’s unpaid-overtime claims in their entirety. First, the wage laws impose overtime obligations on employers, and the complaint did not adequately allege that CBS Corporation was Musiello’s employer. Second, the complaint only generally alleged that Musiello worked more than 40 hours per week beginning in 2015 and was denied overtime. It did not identify a particular workweek in which she worked more than 40 hours or state how many unpaid overtime hours she worked in that week. The court held that these allegations were insufficient to state a plausible overtime claim and dismissed the overtime claims against all defendants, including CBS Radio.

Disposition

The court granted CBS Corporation’s motion to dismiss in its entirety, dismissed CBS Corporation as a defendant, and dismissed Musiello’s overtime claims in their entirety. The opinion does not state whether these dismissals were with or without prejudice. The court scheduled an initial pretrial conference with the defendants that had answered the complaint.