Thompson v. Elev8 Foundation Inc.
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:20-cv-09581
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 12
In Thompson v. Elev8, Judge Gardephe dismissed the wage claims for inadequate allegations, declined jurisdiction over other state-law claims, and allowed amendment.
Shaun Thompson and Marcella Watt may amend their FLSA and NYLL claims, while the First Amended Complaint was dismissed. The court declined supplemental jurisdiction over Thompson’s remaining state and city retaliation and discrimination claims. The defendants named in the case were Elev8 Center New York, LLC, Urban Recovery House, LLC, Donna Mae Depola, and unserved defendant Lee Weiss.
What happened
Shaun Thompson and Marcella Watt sued Elev8 Center New York, Urban Recovery House, and Donna Mae Depola, alleging unpaid overtime and other wage violations under federal and New York law. Thompson also alleged state and city claims involving retaliation and race discrimination.
The court adopted Magistrate Judge James L. Cott’s recommendation. It found that the wage allegations did not clearly show that either plaintiff worked more than 40 hours in a particular week or how much unpaid overtime was worked. The court also declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state and city claims.
Judge Gardephe dismissed the First Amended Complaint but granted the plaintiffs leave to file a Second Amended Complaint addressing the defects in their federal and New York wage claims. The court directed the plaintiffs to file it by October 7, 2022.
The detailed version
- Thompson v. Elev8 Foundation Inc. · No. 1:20-cv-09581
- Paul Gardephe
- Sept. 29, 2022
Background
Shaun Thompson and Marcella Watt brought a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York Labor Law (NYLL) against Elev8 Center New York, LLC, Urban Recovery House, LLC, and Donna Mae Depola. The complaint also named Lee Weiss, but the opinion states that Weiss had not been served and had not appeared. Elev8 Center New York and Urban Recovery operated addiction and treatment facilities and were alleged to operate as a single integrated enterprise. Depola was alleged to be president of those entities.
Thompson alleged that he worked as a counselor at Elev8 and Urban Recovery and routinely worked more than 40 hours per week. Watt alleged that she worked as a patient care coordinator at Elev8 and, beginning in March 2020, regularly worked approximately 42.5 hours per week. Both alleged that the defendants automatically deducted one-hour meal breaks even though they were required to work during those breaks. They also alleged violations involving wage notices and wage statements under the NYLL.
Thompson separately alleged retaliation under the NYLL and race discrimination under the New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law. He alleged that, after he objected to an employee’s failure to use protective equipment, another employee directed racial insults and threats at him, told him to leave, and that he was later terminated. The plaintiffs sought damages and other relief for themselves and similarly situated workers.
Procedural history
The defendants moved to dismiss the First Amended Complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. The district court referred the motion to Magistrate Judge James L. Cott, who recommended dismissing the FLSA and NYLL wage claims for failure to state a claim and declining supplemental jurisdiction over Thompson’s remaining state and city claims. Judge Cott also recommended granting leave to amend the FLSA and NYLL claims.
Neither side objected to the Report and Recommendation. The plaintiffs filed a Second Amended Complaint without leave, and the court struck it. The plaintiffs then requested leave to file another Second Amended Complaint. The defendants opposed that request as premature.
Court’s reasoning
Because there were no objections, the district court reviewed the Report and Recommendation for clear error. It found the recommendation thorough, well-reasoned, and free of clear error, and adopted it in its entirety.
The court agreed that the FLSA and NYLL overtime allegations were insufficient. Although Thompson and Watt described regular work schedules totaling approximately 42.5 hours per week, those totals included one-hour meal breaks. The plaintiffs alleged that they often worked during the breaks, but they did not state how much time they worked during them. The court therefore agreed that the allegations did not establish that their work exceeded 40 hours in any particular week. The plaintiffs also did not identify particular weeks in which they worked overtime or provide sufficient facts showing the amount of unpaid overtime.
Because the federal wage claims were dismissed, the court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the NYLL wage-notice and wage-statement claims and over Thompson’s remaining state and city retaliation and discrimination claims. The opinion states that Thompson had agreed to refile the latter claims in state court.
Leave to amend and disposition
The court concluded that amendment of the FLSA and NYLL claims was appropriate because the case was at an early stage, the defendants had not identified unfair prejudice, and the plaintiffs showed that an amendment could address the deficiencies identified in the Report and Recommendation.
The court adopted Judge Cott’s Report and Recommendation in its entirety, dismissed the First Amended Complaint, and granted the plaintiffs leave to file a Second Amended Complaint as to their FLSA and NYLL claims. It directed the plaintiffs to file that complaint by October 7, 2022, and directed the defendants to state by October 14, 2022, whether they intended to move to dismiss it.
Read the full 12-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.