Jibowu v. Target Corporation

District Court, E.D. New York·Decided December 16, 2020·No. 1:17-cv-03875·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK -------------------------------------------------------x PRISCILLA JIBOWU, individually and on behalf of all other persons similarly situated,

Plaintiff, MEMORANDUM & ORDER 17-CV-3875 (PKC) (CLP) - against -

TARGET CORPORATION and TARGET CORPORATION OF MINNESOTA,

Defendants. -------------------------------------------------------x PAMELA K. CHEN, United States District Judge: Plaintiff Priscilla Jibowu, formerly employed as an Executive Team Leader (“ETL”) by Defendants Target Corporation and Target Corporation of Minnesota (collectively, “Target”), brought this collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) against Target for alleged overtime violations. Several other former Target ETLs subsequently joined the action as opt-in plaintiffs (collectively, “Plaintiffs”). On September 30, 2020, the Court granted conditional certification of the collective action, but circumscribed it to certain ETL positions at certain Target stores. See Jibowu v. Target Corp., —F. Supp. 3d—, 2020 WL 5820957, at *25, *29 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2020) (“September 30 Order”). Accordingly, the parties were directed to confer and submit a revised Proposed Notice and Consent to Join form. Id. at *29. The parties, however, have been unable to resolve all their differences regarding the Notice and Consent to Join form, and each party has submitted its own proposed form. (Plaintiffs’ Proposed Notice and Consent to Join Form (“Pls.’ Notice”), Dkt. 131-1; Target’s Proposed Notice and Consent to Join Form (“Target’s Notice”), Dkt. 132-2.) As discussed below, the Court agrees in part with Plaintiffs and in part with Target, and therefore directs the parties to submit a further revised Proposed Notice and Consent to Join form that complies with the directives herein. DISCUSSION The Court assumes the parties’ familiarity with the facts of this case, which are set forth at length in the September 30 Order. See 2020 WL 5820957, at *1–2, *17–19. Presently, the parties disagree in five areas with respect to the Proposed Notice: (1) the accuracy and specificity with which the Notice describes the scope of the conditionally certified collective; (2) the level of detail

included in the Notice regarding allegedly managerial and non-managerial tasks that ETLs perform; (3) whether the Notice should include defense counsel’s contact information; (4) whether the Notice should inform potential opt-in plaintiffs of their right to choose their own counsel; and (5) whether Plaintiffs’ counsel may receive personal contact information for members of the collective. Each of these issues is addressed in turn. I. Specific Store Locations and ETL Positions “[I]t is well-established that ‘courts have broad discretion to craft appropriate notices that effectuate the overarching policies of the collective suit provisions and provide employees with accurate and timely notice concerning the pendency of the collective action, so that they can make informed decisions about whether to participate.’” Cabrera v. Stephens, No. 16-CV-3234 (ADS) (SIL), 2017 WL 4326511, at *8 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 28, 2017) (quoting Hernandez v. Immortal Rise,

Inc., No. 11-CV-4360 (RRM) (LB), 2012 WL 4369746, at *6 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 24, 2012)). Accordingly, the Court “has the authority to facilitate and narrow a FLSA opt-in notice such that it is directed towards the appropriate individuals that are the subject of the FLSA collective action.” Jibowu, 2020 WL 5820957, at *25 (internal quotation marks omitted) (citing Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc., 811 F.3d 528, 540 (2d Cir. 2016)). “The Court understands its discretion to be guided by the goals of the notice: to make as many potential plaintiffs as possible aware of this action and their right to opt in without devolving into a fishing expedition or imposing undue burdens on the defendants.” Id. at *25 (quoting Guzelgurgenli v. Prime Time Specials Inc., 883 F. Supp. 2d 340, 356 (E.D.N.Y. 2012)). Here, the September 30 Order conditionally certifies a collective comprised of current and former Food ETLs, Sales Floor ETLs, Softlines ETLs, Hardlines ETLs, Guest Experience ETLs, Replenishment ETLs, and Logistics ETLs in stores that do not have Replenishment ETLs, employed by Defendants at the Target store locations within California, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas, at which Plaintiff Jibowu or the opt-in Plaintiffs worked, at any time from June 28, 2014 to the present. Id. at *29. The September 30 Order makes clear that the subject stores include “locations at which Plaintiffs worked, even temporarily,” during the relevant period. Id. at *25. Target, though, takes issue with including several stores in California—Riverside SE, Moreno Valley East, Whittier, Palm Springs, Lake Elsinore, and Riverside—at which one of the opt-in Plaintiffs, Isaura Isais, allegedly worked on a temporary basis from time to time. (Target’s Letter Brief (“Target Br.”), Dkt. 132, at 2; see also Plaintiffs’ Letter Brief (“Pls. Br.”), Dkt. 134, at 1.) Target argues that it has no records of Isais’s temporary work at these stores and has no way of verifying that Isais worked at the stores during the conditionally certified period, given that Isais worked as an ETL at Target from November 2007 until April 2019. (Target Br., Dkt. 132, at 2; see also Declaration of Isaura Isais (“Isais Decl.”), Dkt. 79-5, ¶ 2.) Plaintiffs point out that, according to Target’s counsel, Target does not keep records of temporary employment. (Pls. Br., Dkt. 134, at 1.) Additionally, Plaintiffs’ counsel represents that they have confirmed with Isais that she worked at each of the disputed California stores after June 28, 2014. (Id.) In light of the representations by Plaintiffs’ counsel, which the Court has no reason to doubt, the six disputed California stores are part of the conditionally certified collective and should be included in the Proposed Notice. At this stage of the proceedings, all Plaintiffs must do to be able to send notice to potential opt-in plaintiffs is “make a modest factual showing” that they and potential opt-in members are “similarly situated with respect to the allegedly unlawful policy or practice.” Jibowu, 2020 WL 5820957, at *20 (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Korenblum v. Citigroup, Inc., 195 F. Supp. 3d 475, 480 (S.D.N.Y. 2016)); accord Myers v. Hertz Corp., 624 F.3d 537, 555 (2d Cir. 2010). “The court does not resolve factual disputes, decide substantive issues going to the ultimate merits, or make credibility determinations at this stage.”

Jibowu, 2020 WL 5820957, at *20 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Here, Isais declares that during her employment as an ETL at Target, she worked “from time to time at seven other Target stores throughout California,” including “locations in Whittier, Palm Springs, Moreno Valley, Lake Elsinore, Riverside, Riverside East, and Menifee.” (Isais Decl., Dkt. 79-5, ¶ 8.) At each of those locations, the work “was identical,” and she “witnessed and met other ETLs performing manual labor, working more than 40 hours a week, and not receiving overtime pay.” (Id.) These statements, combined with the representations of Plaintiffs’ counsel that they have confirmed that Isais worked at six of the seven locations—all except Menifee—after June 28, 2014, satisfy Plaintiffs’ burden at this juncture. Even under a heightened “modest plus standard,”

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