Tueros v. Urban Health Plan, Inc.

Background

Christina Tueros and Hermel Lopez sued Urban Health Plan, Inc. under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law. They alleged that Urban failed to pay non-managerial employees for all hours worked, including time before and after scheduled shifts and during meal periods. They attributed the alleged underpayment to timekeeping practices involving Urban’s Paylocity system and to supervisors’ requiring or permitting work without recording the time.

The plaintiffs moved to conditionally certify an FLSA collective action, obtain employee contact information, approve a notice and consent form for potential participants, and pause the FLSA filing deadline for potential participants until notice could be sent. The proposed collective included non-managerial employees across Urban’s different jobs and locations. The record included declarations, deposition testimony, time and pay records, and evidence about Urban’s timekeeping system and policies.

Conditional certification

The court explained that conditional certification is the first step in the FLSA collective-action process. At this stage, plaintiffs must make a modest preliminary showing that they and potential participants are similarly situated—meaning they share a material issue of fact or law relevant to their wage claims. The court does not weigh the ultimate merits, resolve factual disputes, or decide witness credibility at this stage.

The court found that the plaintiffs met that low preliminary burden for their theory that Urban knew, or should have known, that employees were not being paid for all time worked. The plaintiffs described unpaid pre-shift, post-shift, and meal-period work; identified other employees with similar complaints; submitted time and pay records; and presented evidence that Urban’s system could reveal differences between scheduled, recorded, and paid time. The court concluded that these facts supported a collective covering Urban’s non-exempt employees across its jobs and locations.

The court found the evidence less clear regarding the separate theory that supervisors required employees to work off the clock. It stated that this theory alone likely would not support certification. The court nevertheless granted certification because the evidence supporting the alleged failure to pay for all hours worked was sufficient. The court also rejected Urban’s arguments that the plaintiffs’ failure to use Paylocity’s reporting features or the individualized circumstances of their claims defeated certification at this preliminary stage.

Notice and employee information

The court approved notice in principle but limited the FLSA notice period to three years, rather than the six years proposed by the plaintiffs. It reasoned that the FLSA’s maximum period for joining the collective is three years when willful misconduct is alleged, and that a six-year notice could confuse employees whose potential claims might arise only under New York law. The plaintiffs were directed to revise the notice and consent form as specified in the order.

The court also ordered Urban to provide, within 14 days, an electronic list of covered employees employed at any point during the three years before the order. The list had to include names, titles, dates of employment, last-known mailing addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers. The court did not require Social Security numbers or compensation rates because that information was unnecessary for distributing notice and raised privacy concerns.

Equitable tolling and disposition

The court denied the request to pause the statute of limitations for all potential opt-in plaintiffs. It found that the plaintiffs had not identified rare or exceptional circumstances, concealment of the claims, a specific potential participant at risk of being time-barred, or an extraordinary delay warranting that relief. The court left open the possibility of considering tolling issues for individual plaintiffs later.

The order therefore states that the motion to conditionally certify an FLSA collective action was GRANTED; Urban was ordered to produce the limited employee information; the plaintiffs were ordered to revise the notice; and the motion was DENIED in all other respects. This order did not finally decide whether Urban violated the FLSA or New York Labor Law.