Guevara-Salgado v. Hayes-Meninno, LLC

125 F. Supp. 3d 379, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115562, 2015 WL 5104986
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedAugust 31, 2015
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 15-12294-PBS
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 125 F. Supp. 3d 379 (Guevara-Salgado v. Hayes-Meninno, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Guevara-Salgado v. Hayes-Meninno, LLC, 125 F. Supp. 3d 379, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115562, 2015 WL 5104986 (D. Mass. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR REAL ESTATE ATTACHMENT

Judith Gail Dein, United States Magistrate Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

The plaintiff, Mario H. Guevara-Salgado (“Guevara”), has brought this action against his employer, Hayes-Meninno, LLC d/b/a Roily’s Tavern on the Square (“Roily’s Tavern”), and its officers and alleged owners, Wendy Meninno Hayes and her husband Roland John Hayes. Roily’s Tavern, a restaurant, is located at 338 Broadway, Lynn, Massachusetts. That property is owned by reach-and-apply defendant 338 Broadway, LLC which, the plaintiff alleges, is also owned by Wendy and Roland Hayes.1

By his complaint, Guevara alleges that the defendants failed to pay him overtime compensation in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1); failed to pay him wages in violation of the Massachusetts Wage Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, § 148; and failed [382]*382to pay him minimum wages in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 151, § 1, and the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. § 206, in connection with his extensive work at Roily’s Tavern and the Hayes’ related businesses during the period of approximately November 2012 through February 28, 2015. Guevara has also asserted common law claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, quantum meruit, promissory estoppel, and for reach-and-apply relief. The defendants, while admitting that some amounts are due Guevara, dispute his claim of hours worked, disagree as to the scope of' his employment responsibilities, and contend that he was an independent contractor and not an employee in connection with' some of the services provided. In addition, they contend that Wendy Meninno has no liability for any unpaid wages.

This matter is before the court on “Plaintiffs Motion for Approval of Attachment of Real Estate in the Name of the Defendant Wendy Meninno Hayes, a.k.a. Wendy M. Hayes, and the Reach & Apply Defendant, 338 Broadway LLC” (Docket No. 9).2 By this motion, Guevara is seeking a real estate attachment in the amount of $250,000.00 against the home of Wendy and Roland Hayes located at 1 Boulder Way, Lynn, Massachusetts, which is owned by Wendy M. Hayes, .and the real estate located at 338 Broadway, Lynn, Massachusetts, which is owned by the reach-and-apply defendant 338 Broadway LLC. After careful consideration of the written and oral arguments of the parties, this court finds that the plaintiff is likely to prevail on the merits of his claim for violations of the FLSA and. Wage Act, and that, while the amount of potential damages is very much in dispute, the plaintiff is likely to recover more than the amount of the requested attachment. This-court also finds .that the plaintiff has established that he is likely to prevail on the merits of his claim •that Wendy Hayes is personally liable for the amounts due. Therefore, and. for the reasons detailed more, fully herein, the motion for a real estate attachment is ALLOWED.

II. STATEMENT OF FACTS3

Businesses of the Defendants

As noted above, Roily’s Tavern is a restaurant located in Lynn, Massachusetts.- In addition, for a period of time the defendants operated “Roily’s on the Green,” a 'restaurant at the municipal golf course in Lynn. RH Aff. ¶ 13. Roily’s Tavern also catered various functions at the golf course, restaurant and elsewhere. Id. ¶ 14. The restaurant at the golf course closed in 2013, but the catering business continued throughout the period of Guevara’s employment. See id.

It is undisputed that both Roland and Wendy Hayes are publicly’identified as the managers of the restaurant. See RH Aff. ¶ 1; WH Aff. ¶ 1. Nevertheless,'the defendants seek to portray Wendy Hayes as [383]*383having only marginal involvement in the day-to-day operations of the business. Thus, they assert, “Wendy Hayes was never in charge of, and never exercised authority in hiring, firing, or scheduling of kitchen staff throughout the time period Guevara was employed.” RH. Aff. - ¶ 23. Rather, that was Roland’s responsibility.Id.; see also WH Aff. ¶¶ 1, 2 (while Wendy was “more actively involved” in the day-today operations of the restaurant before she became ill in 2013, she was “never involved in the hiring, firing, scheduling, and payment decisions of the kitchen and/or cleaning operations, all of which were done by my -husband Roland Hayes.”). Noticeably, the defendants do not purport to describe Wendy’s responsibilities in connection with the catering business, or her supervision of the plain-. tiff. According to Guevara, both Roland and Wendy Hayes “had the power to determine [his] wages, and so they did.” PI, Aff. ¶ 3. They also both “had the power to' set [his] work schedule and did so periodically.” Id. The evidence submitted to date supports Guevara’s contention.

This court has scrutinized the parties’ affidavits as well as the multitude of text messages between the plaintiff and Roland and Wendy Hayes submitted by the plaintiff. Based on this, review, this court concludes that, for present .purposes, the plaintiff has established that Wendy was actively involved in directing Guevara’s employment responsibilities. Thus, there may have been a division of responsibility between Roland and Wendy, with Roland having primary responsibility for running the restaurant4 and'Wendy responsible for running the catering busihess (including events held-at the restaurant), but Guevara clearly worked under both of their supervision. See PI. Mem. at Exs B & C. With respect* to Wendy, in particular, she directed him to help set up events, pick up inventory, run errands, .plan -menus and-even how to ■ cook various items. See, e.g., 8/20/13 text message5 from Wendy to Guevara (“I want to cancel caprese salad and have you make broccoli salad insted [sic]. Triple this recipe. Ok. 2 heads broccoli, 1/2 medium red onion, 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 -cup crumbled bacon, 1 cup mayo, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar. Ok”). She also told him what time to be in certain places and to perform certain tasks. As detailed more fully below, there is sufficient evidence-at this stage to establish that Wendy qualifies as Guevara’s employer for purposes of the wage and hours laws.

Overview of Plaintiffs Claims

.. Guevara began working for Roily’s Tavern in or about November 2011. PI. Supp. Aff. ¶ 3. According to Guevara, he first began working one day a week, then about three days a week, and then, beginning in or about November 2012, five days a week. PI. Aff. at ¶¶ 2, 5-6. According to Guevera, his responsibilities included “cleaning, cooking at the restaurant and outside parties, purchasing food, paper, coffee, and soda for the restaurant, and cheeking that the restaurant’s inventory was delivered in a timely manner.” Id. ¶ 4. His responsibilities also included calculating employees’ hours and pay, making deposits, paying certain bills, and even distributing some wages that were paid in cash. PL Supp. Aff. ¶ 9. - '

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125 F. Supp. 3d 379, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115562, 2015 WL 5104986, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guevara-salgado-v-hayes-meninno-llc-mad-2015.