Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Waterfront Commission

665 F. Supp. 197, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6494, 44 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 37,421, 43 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1297
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedApril 22, 1987
DocketNo. 85 Civ. 7732 (KTD)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 665 F. Supp. 197 (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Waterfront Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Waterfront Commission, 665 F. Supp. 197, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6494, 44 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 37,421, 43 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1297 (S.D.N.Y. 1987).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

KEVIN THOMAS DUFFY, District Judge.

The defendant, the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor (the “WC”) brings this motion for summary judgment against the plaintiff, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the “EEOC”) alleging, inter alia, that it is not an employer within the meaning of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (the “ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. (1982). The WC further moves to dismiss the cross-claims for indemnification asserted against it by the various employer-defendants. Because I find the WC is not an employer under the ADEA its motion for summary judgment is granted. The cross-claims against the WC for indemnity are also dismissed.

The WC was established by an interstate compact between the states of New York and New Jersey in 1953. The compact was approved by Congress and the WC was given the authority to enact regulations having the effect of law. Pursuant to its statutory authority, the WC began requiring that all persons wishing to become pier guards first be licensed by the WC.

As part of its licensing procedures, the WC required that first-time pier guard license applicants be under the age of fifty. In September, 1985 the WC voluntarily amended this regulation to its present form and now permits the licensing of pier guard applicants up to the age of seventy.

In August, 1982, Mr. Leonard Kantor applied for an application to become a pier guard, but was rejected by the WC because he was fifty-one years old. In October, 1982, Kantor filed a charge of age discrimination against the WC with the EEOC. The WC denied any age discrimination. On April 17,1984, however, the EEOC issued a Letter of Violation. On August 23, 1984, representatives of the WC and the EEOC met for conciliation purposes. The EEOC indicated that in addition to eliminating the age fifty licensing restrictions and supplying Kantor with a license, the WC would be required to pay Kantor back wages of $13,-300 plus $85.00 damages per week until Kantor was hired as a pier guard.

In October, 1984, the WC agreed to suspend the age requirements for licensing pier guards and accepted Kantor’s application for a pier guard license. After being licensed temporarily, Kantor received a permanent license on July 11, 1985, but the WC refused and continues to refuse to pay Kantor any back wages or damages. Since receiving his temporary license, Kantor has been employed and remains employed as pier guard by the defendant Maher Terminals, Inc. (“Maher”). The EEOC filed this action on October 1, 1985.

[199]*199DISCUSSION

The crux of the parties’ dispute is whether the WC, in its licensing capacity, is an employer within the meaning of the ADEA. 29 U.S.C. § 630(b) provides in pertinent part:

The term “employer” means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has twenty or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year ... The term also means (1) any agent of such a person, and (2) a State or political subdivision of a State and any agency or instrumentality of a State or a political subdivision of a State, and any interstate agency, but such term does not include the United States, or a corporation wholly owned by the Government of the United States.

The EEOC argues that the WC falls within this definition of employer. The argument, however, ignores the fact that this suit was brought against the WC in its licensing capacity. Certainly the WC hires its own employees, but it does not presently and has never in the past hired pier guards.

In Nat'l Org. for Women v. Waterfront Comm’n, 468 F.Supp. 317, 320-321 (S.D.N.Y.1979), the court, in considering language essentially identical to that of the ADEA, held that the WC, in its licensing capacity, was not an employer within the meaning of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.1 The issue in Nati Org. for Women was whether the WC was an employer in respect to applicants for cargo checker positions. Only longshoremen registered with the WC were eligible to be hired for these positions. As in the instant case, the WC’s role was exclusively as a licensing or registering body. Thus, the court stated, “In its licensing role, the Commission neither pays the wages nor engages the services of persons it registers. Nor does it undertake to obtain workers for employers or jobs for workers. It is, therefore, neither an ‘employer’ nor an ‘employment agency’ with respect to persons desiring registration.” Nat'l Org. for Women, at 320; see also Lavender-Cabellero v. Dept. of Consumer Affairs, 458 F.Supp. 213, 214-215 (S.D.N.Y.1978) (city licensing body not an employer under Title VII).

The EEOC argues, however, that the WC through its licensing power so tightly controls an applicant’s access to pier guard jobs, that it should be deemed an employer even without a direct employer-employee relationship.

To support its position, the EEOC relies primarily on the Second Circuit’s opinion in Spirt v. Teachers Insurance and Annuity Assoc., 691 F.2d 1054 (2d Cir.1982), a case factually distinct from the instant case and one more similar to Sibley Memorial Hospital v. Wilson, 488 F.2d 1338 (D.C.Cir.1973).

The plaintiff in Spirt was a tenured female professor at a university which had a retirement program managed by the defendants. As a tenured professor her participation in the retirement program was mandatory even though the program paid female retirees less per month than their male counterparts. Although the plaintiff was not an employee of the defendants, the Second Circuit held that:

[the defendants] which exist solely for the purpose of enabling universities to delegate their responsibility to provide retirement benefits for their employees, are so closely intertwined with those universities, ... that they must be deemed an “employer” for purposes of Title VII. It is also relevant that participation in [the retirement program] is mandatory for tenured faculty members ... and that [the university] shares in the admin[200]*200istrative responsibilities that result from its faculty members’ participation____

Spirt, at 1063.

Similarly, in Sibley the plaintiff was a male private duty nurse who was hired directly by patients requiring his services. When a patient at Sibley needed a private nurse, the hospital would refer the patient’s request to an organization which kept a registry of private nurses. That organization would contact the nurses and send them to the patients. Plaintiff alleged that the hospital had twice interfered with his employment by refusing to let him report to the patients. Under those circumstances, the court reasoned:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
665 F. Supp. 197, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6494, 44 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 37,421, 43 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1297, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/equal-employment-opportunity-commission-v-waterfront-commission-nysd-1987.