Jones v. Addictive Behavioral Change Health Grp., LLC

364 F. Supp. 3d 1257
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedJanuary 31, 2019
DocketCase No. 2:16-cv-02685-HLT
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 364 F. Supp. 3d 1257 (Jones v. Addictive Behavioral Change Health Grp., LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. Addictive Behavioral Change Health Grp., LLC, 364 F. Supp. 3d 1257 (D. Kan. 2019).

Opinion

HOLLY L. TEETER, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Plaintiff Crystal Nicole Kuri filed this action against her former employer, Defendant Addictive Behavioral Change Health Group, LLC, under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201, et seq., the Kansas Wage Payment Act ("KWPA"), K.S.A. §§ 44-313, et seq., and Kansas state law alleging claims of failure to pay overtime, wages due, breach of contract, and retaliation. In response, Defendant asserted counterclaims for unjust enrichment and breach of contract. Plaintiff now seeks dismissal of Defendant's counterclaims and partial summary judgment in her favor on two of her affirmative claims-Count I for violations of the FLSA and Count V for FLSA retaliation. Docs. 75, 77.

For the following reasons, the Court finds that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction over Defendant's state law counterclaim for breach of contract and, accordingly, dismisses without prejudice that claim. The Court, however, declines to dismiss Defendant's unjust enrichment claim on either of the bases sought by Plaintiff. The Court likewise denies Plaintiff's motions for partial summary judgment on her claims for violation of the FLSA and FLSA retaliation.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Allegations1

Defendant employed Plaintiff as a dispensing nurse from November 2014 to January 2015. Doc. 72 at 2. Pursuant to Plaintiff's employment contract, Defendant was to pay Plaintiff an hourly wage of $ 20.25. Id. Defendant's employees-including Plaintiff, during the pendency of her employment-record time worked by clocking in and out of their shifts through a computer program. Id. at 1-2. For any hours worked overtime, Defendant's Policies and Procedures Manual provides:

Non-exempt salaried (hourly) employees will be paid at the rate of one and one-half times their regular hourly rate of pay for all time worked in excess of 40 hours in any one workweek.

Doc. 79 at 5; Doc. 82 at 1.

On October 5, 2016, Plaintiff filed this lawsuit, claiming Defendant failed to pay her for all hours worked-including time spent performing work-related tasks both before and after her scheduled shift-and also failed to pay her time-and-a-half for overtime. Doc. 1; Doc. 72 at 3. Plaintiff's claims prompted Defendant to conduct an audit of its employees' time and pay records, which revealed that overtime hours *1261had been undercounted for several employees. Doc. 72 at 3. Specifically, the audit showed that some employees had been paid "straight time" (i.e., their standard hourly wage) for the undercounted overtime hours, instead of the "time-and-a-half" due for those hours under the terms of their employment. Id. With respect to Plaintiff, the audit revealed three hours for which Plaintiff had been paid straight time instead of overtime wages, a difference of $ 30.38. Doc. 79 at 6; Doc. 82 at 1. The audit also revealed that Defendant mistakenly overpaid Plaintiff amounts designated as holiday pay by $ 486.00. Id.

In an attempt to rectify the overtime payment issue, Defendant paid affected employees an additional time-and-a-half amount for the undercounted hours. Doc. 72 at 3. Defendant, however, has not paid Plaintiff any additional amount, arguing it actually overpaid Plaintiff due to (1) its allegedly mistaken payment of $ 486.00 designated as holiday pay, and (2) Plaintiff's failure to repay a $ 1,500.00 loan for car repairs extended by Defendant during the course of Plaintiff's employment. Id. at 4-5.

B. Procedural History

Based on the above allegations, Plaintiff asserts claims in this action for (1) violation of the FLSA, (2) violation of the KWPA, (3) breach of contract, and (4) retaliation under the FLSA. Doc. 72. Although Plaintiff's FLSA violation claim was previously conditionally certified as a collective action under § 216(b) of the FLSA, the case has since been decertified as a collective action. Docs. 30, 39. Therefore, Plaintiff's claim for violation of the FLSA proceeds on an individual basis only. Doc. 39.

Defendant asserts counterclaims against Plaintiff for unjust enrichment (related to the holiday pay allegations) and breach of contract (related to the car repair loan).2 Doc. 72. Plaintiff now moves to dismiss Defendant's counterclaims pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6).3 Doc. 77. Plaintiff simultaneously moves for summary judgment with respect to her affirmative claims for violation of, and retaliation under, the FLSA.4 Docs. 75, 77.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Plaintiff's Motion to Dismiss the Counterclaim (Doc. 77)

Plaintiff moves to dismiss Defendant's counterclaims, arguing (1) that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over Defendant's counterclaim for unjust enrichment and its counterclaim for breach of contract, and (2) with respect to Defendant's counterclaim for unjust enrichment only, that Defendant fails to state a claim for relief. Doc. 77. The Court first addresses Plaintiff's jurisdictional argument.

1. Rule 12(b)(1)

As set forth above, Plaintiff moves to dismiss both counterclaims pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1). For the following reasons, *1262the Court finds that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction over Defendant's counterclaim for breach of contract but exercises supplemental jurisdiction over Defendant's counterclaim for unjust enrichment.

a. Standard

Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. Marcus v. Kan. Dep't of Revenue , 170 F.3d 1305, 1309 (10th Cir. 1999). Accordingly, there is a presumption against federal jurisdiction and the party invoking jurisdiction bears the burden to show jurisdiction is proper.

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Bluebook (online)
364 F. Supp. 3d 1257, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-addictive-behavioral-change-health-grp-llc-ksd-2019.