Lawrence v. NYC Medical Practice, P.C.

Background

Keylee Lawrence, Courtney Braccia, Bria Warner, and Wendy Rosado sued NYC Medical Practice, P.C., doing business as Goals Aesthetics and Plastic Surgery, and Sergey Voskin, M.D. They alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law (NYLL). The alleged violations included failure to pay for all hours worked, failure to pay overtime for hours above 40 in a workweek, requiring off-the-clock work, requiring inaccurate time records, and manipulating time records.

Lawrence and Warner worked as receptionists; Braccia and Rosado worked as patient coordinators. They submitted evidence that employees worked long hours, worked through meal breaks, worked before or after scheduled shifts, continued working at home or on weekends, and did not receive all required overtime pay. A former human-resources consultant also stated that receptionists and patient coordinators were subject to the same policies and practices.

Plaintiffs moved to certify an FLSA collective action under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) and a class action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 for their NYLL claims. Discovery had already ended when they filed the motions.

FLSA Collective Action

The court applied heightened review because discovery was complete. It found that the named plaintiffs were similarly situated to other current and former receptionists and patient coordinators employed by Goals. The evidence indicated that employees in those positions were subject to common practices concerning overtime, off-the-clock work, meal breaks, and time records. Defendants did not argue that individual defenses were needed to resolve the claims.

The court did not find evidence that employees of Goals’ predecessor companies were similarly situated. It therefore narrowed the collective to current and former receptionists and patient coordinators employed by Goals, excluding predecessor-company employees.

The court also limited the collective period. Although plaintiffs proposed a period beginning in September 2015, the court used October 26, 2017, through October 26, 2020, based on the FLSA’s potential three-year limitations period and the date plaintiffs filed the certification motion. The court granted plaintiffs’ FLSA motion in part.

The court directed defendants to provide plaintiffs with contact and employment information for people within the collective. It ordered revisions to the notice and consent forms and approved a 60-day period for eligible individuals to opt in after the notice was first sent.

Rule 23 Class Certification

Plaintiffs sought certification of a Rule 23(b)(3) class for their NYLL overtime claims. The court found that the proposed definition was a “fail-safe” definition because it included only employees who ultimately were determined not to have received required overtime. The court removed that language rather than certifying the class as originally proposed.

After that modification, the court found the Rule 23 requirements satisfied for Goals employees. It found sufficient numerosity based on evidence that Goals had employed approximately 50 patient coordinators and 20 to 30 receptionists. It also found commonality and typicality because the claims arose from common compensation and timekeeping practices. The court found that the named plaintiffs and their counsel could adequately represent the class.

The court found that common questions about whether Goals maintained unlawful overtime practices predominated over individual questions about hours and damages. It also found that a class action was superior because individual claims could be too small to justify separate litigation. The court found the class sufficiently definite after replacing the proposed endpoint of “to present” with October 26, 2020.

The court excluded employees of predecessor companies because plaintiffs had not provided evidence concerning those employees and had not argued that Goals was responsible for predecessor companies’ practices. The conclusion states that the certified NYLL class consists of current and former receptionists and patient coordinators employed by NYC Medical Practice, P.C. doing business as Goals, “from 2015 to October 26, 2020.”

Disposition

Judge Gregory H. Woods granted in part plaintiffs’ FLSA collective-action motion and granted in part their Rule 23 class-certification motion. The order certified the narrowed federal collective and New York class, designated the plaintiffs as representatives, approved their counsel as class and collective counsel, and established procedures for disclosure, notice, and opting into the FLSA collective. The opinion did not decide whether defendants ultimately violated the FLSA or NYLL or what damages, if any, were owed.