Alvarez-Soto v. B. Frank Joy, LLC

258 F. Supp. 3d 615
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedJune 23, 2017
DocketCivil Action No. TDC-15-1120
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 258 F. Supp. 3d 615 (Alvarez-Soto v. B. Frank Joy, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alvarez-Soto v. B. Frank Joy, LLC, 258 F. Supp. 3d 615 (D. Md. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

. THEODORE D. CHUANG, United . States District Judge

Plaintiffs Manuel Alvarez-Soto, Darryl Reid, and Charles Thomas, former and current employees of Defendant B. Frank Joy, LLC (“BFJ”), have filed this civil lawsuit on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated against BFJ and two of BFJ’s corporate officers, T. Kenneth Joy and Kevin Joy (the “Individual Defendants”). Plaintiffs allege that Defendants have violated their rights under federal and state law by failing to pay both straight time and overtime wages, refusing to allow Plaintiffs and other employees to take- sick leave, and discriminating against [620]*620Plaintiffs and other African American and Latino employees. The Second Amended Complaint asserts violations. of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 201-219 (2012); the Maryland Wage and Hour Law (“MWHL”), Md. Code Ann., Lab. & Empl. §§ 3-401 to 8-481 (West 2016); the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law (“MWPCL”), Md. Code Ann., Lab. & Empl. §§ 3-501 to 3-509;' the District of Columbia Minimum Wage Act (“DCMWA”), D.C. Code §§ 32-1001 to 32-1015 (West 2013); the District of Columbia Wage Payment and Collection Law (“DCWPCL”), D.C. Code §§ 32-1301 to 32-1312; the District of Columbia Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act, as amended (the “D.C. Sick Leave Act”), D.C. Code §§ 32-131.01 to 32-131.17; 42 U.S.C. § 1981; and District of Columbia and Maryland common law. BFJ and the Individual Defendants have filed separate Motions to Dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). For the reasons set forth below,’ the Individual Defendants’ Motion is GRANTED, and BFJ’s Motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs are current and former employees of BFJ, a Maryland limited liability company that specializes in the installation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of underground infrastructure. Plaintiff Alvar rez-Soto, who is Latino, worked as a laborer at BFJ between 2005 and 2015. Plaintiff Reid,- who is African American, drove trucks for BFJ between 2005 and his retirement in 2016. Plaintiff Thomas, also African American, has worked at BFJ since 2008 and remains employed there. He is currently a driver operating trucks weighing less than 10,000 pounds. All three named Plaintiffs are residents of Maryland. Plaintiffs seek to bring this lawsuit on behalf of a class of current and former BFJ employees who have worked as construction workers, laborers, equipment operators, forepersons, flaggers, and truck drivers.

Defendant T. Kenneth Joy and Kevin Joy are corporate officers of BFJ, The Second Amended Complaint alleges that T. Kenneth Joy is the President and Chief Executive Officer of BFJ, but he claims that he serves only as Chairman of the Board and merely advises BFJ on business development and acquisition strategy. Kevin Joy is alleged to be the Vice President of BFJ, but he claims to hold only the position of Secretary of the Board. The Second Amended 'Complaint does not describe the extent of the Individual Defendants’ involvement in the day-to-day management of BFJ,’ including employee compensation, payroll, scheduling, and other personnel-related issues. Rather, it alleges only that the Individual Defendants knew or should have known of BFJ’s alleged legal violations.

I. Wage and Hour Claims

BFJ operates primarily out of a construction yard (the “Construction Yard”) located in Hyattsville, Maryland. BFJ’s employees report to the Construction Yard before leaving on company'trucks for different work sites. Although the paid work day officially begins at 7:00 a.m., BFJ employees must report to the Construction Yard between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., up to an hour and a half before departing for work sites, in' order to load company trucks and construction vehicles with tools and equipment. Loading the trucks takes between 15 and 90 minutes each morning. After the trucks are loaded, truck drivers transport the construction workers and laborers to job sites, located throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. When the daily work at the construction site ends, the truck drivers transport the con[621]*621struction workers and laborers back to the Construction Yard, where they unload the trucks and vehicles for 15 to 45 minutes.

Plaintiffs allege that BFJ has not been compensating employees for . the time spent loading and unloading vehicles at the Construction Yard or for time spent traveling between, the Construction Yard and the various job sites. According to the Second Amended Complaint, construction workers and laborers are not paid at all for time spent loading arid unloading vehicles or for travel time.' Truck drivers are compensated for only 30 minutes of travel time per day, even though the average amount of daily travel time is 60 minutes, and some job sites require more than an hour of travel time, In addition, although BFJ routinely requires employees to work over 40 hours per week, BFJ fails to pay overtime wages of one and one-half times the employees’ regular hourly rate of pay.

According to Plaintiffs, part of the reason BFJ fails to correctly compensate its workers is its failure to maintain an adequate timekeeping system. Instead of utilizing a time clock or other employee self-reporting system, the forepersons at each job site report time for all workers. However, forepersons often depart before the day’s work is completed, and their reports are often inaccurate. Plaintiffs also allege that BFJ has retaliated against employees who complained about, inaccurate time records, wages, or lack of overtime payments by demoting them, discharging them, and otherwise discriminating against them. Specifically, Thomas alleges that he was demoted after complaining that he was not receiving overtime .pay. Plaintiffs also allege that they were denied use of sick leave, even though the BFJ Company Employee Handbook states that employees are entitled to sick leave.

II. Discrimination Claims

Plaintiffs further assert that BFJ discriminates against African American and Latino workers on the basis of race. Alvarez-Soto alleges that a white foreman asked why- Alvarez-Soto earns $13 per hour even though he' “can’t speak English.” Decl. of Manuel Alvarez-Soto, Second Am. Compl. (“SAC”) Ex. A ¶ 6, ECF No. 76-1 (“Alvarez-Soto Deel.”). He claims that he was not allowed to apply for a driving position because he is Dominican and speaks English with an accent, and he further states that BFJ allowed his former co-workers to make fun of his English and treat him “like a' second-class citizen.” Id. ¶ 12. Reid alleges that a foreman cursed and yelled at him because he is African American. He asserts that he saw the foreman belittle -Latino workers on the job, and that a BFJ fleet manager referred to Spanish-speaking employees as “spies.” Deck of Darryl Reid, SAC Ex. A ¶ 8, ECF No. 76-1 (“Reid Deck”).

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258 F. Supp. 3d 615, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alvarez-soto-v-b-frank-joy-llc-mdd-2017.