Kroshnyi v. U.S. Pack Courier Services, Inc.

771 F.3d 93
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedNovember 4, 2014
DocketDocket Nos. 11-2789-cv, 11-4368-cv
StatusPublished
Cited by101 cases

This text of 771 F.3d 93 (Kroshnyi v. U.S. Pack Courier Services, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kroshnyi v. U.S. Pack Courier Services, Inc., 771 F.3d 93 (2d Cir. 2014).

Opinion

SUSAN L. CARNEY, Circuit Judge:

This case calls on us to review the district court’s resolution of several questions of New York law under its supplemental jurisdiction — primarily, its application of certain state statutes governing franchising and wages to plaintiffs’ claims for compensation arising from their work, from the late 1980s through 2000, as delivery drivers for one or more defendant corporations owned by defendant Peter Glazman. Plaintiffs contend that defendants systematically undercompensated them for their work, purporting to treat them as franchisees while reaping disproportionate profits at plaintiffs’ expense. On that basis, plaintiffs filed this action in 2001, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201, et seq. (“FLSA”); the Federal Insurance Contribution Act, 26 U.S.C. §§ 3101, et seq. (“FICA”); the New York Labor Law, N.Y. Labor Law §§ 190, et seq. (“NYLL”); the New York Franchise Sales Act, N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §§ 680, et seq. (“FSA”)1; and various contract-related claims.

Six years into this long-running litigation, the district court dismissed plaintiffs’ federal claims under the FLSA and FICA, but elected to exercise its supplemental jurisdiction to adjudicate the remaining state law claims, as to which dispositive motions had been submitted.2 The district court granted summary judgment to defendants on plaintiffs’ NYLL and contract claims for unpaid commissions, holding that the statute of frauds precluded any action premised on defendants’ alleged oral agreements to pay those commissions.3 Plaintiffs then proceeded to trial on their FSA claims, which stemmed from defendants’ alleged failure to comply with the Act’s registration requirements and alleged use of fraudulent and unlawful [97]*97practices in connection with the franchise relationship. After trial, a jury awarded damages to eight plaintiffs on these claims, and (as envisioned by the FSA), the court awarded those plaintiffs their related attorneys’ fees.

Defendants now appeal the district court’s FSA rulings in plaintiffs’ favor, contending principally that it was error for the district court to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over these state-law claims, and that plaintiffs’ claims were in any event barred by the statute of limitations. Plaintiffs cross-appeal, challenging inter alia the district court’s ruling that the statute of frauds barred their NYLL and contract claims for unpaid commissions.

For the reasons set forth below, we find no abuse of discretion in the district court’s exercise of supplemental jurisdiction. We further conclude thát the statute of limitations barred the FSA claims of six of the eight plaintiffs. Although’we affirm the FSA award as to the remaining two plaintiffs, we determine that the related attorneys’ fee award must be recalculated to reflect that modification in the substantive award. Finally, we decide — contrary to the district court — that the statute of frauds does not preclude plaintiffs from pursuing their NYLL and contract claims against defendants. Accordingly, we remand to the district court for further proceedings on these state-law claims and for recalculation of the FSA-related attorneys’ fees.

BACKGROUND

A. The Parties and the Relevant Agreements

Defendant Peter Glazman (also known as Peter Glassman) owns or controls defendants U.S. Pack Courier Services, Inc. (“USP Courier”) and U.S. Pack Network Corp. (“USP Network”) (collectively, “U.S. Pack” or “defendants”), corporations that provide package delivery services in the New York City metropolitan area.4 Glaz-man served as president of USP Network throughout the plaintiffs’ relationship with the U.S. Pack companies starting in the late 1980s. He became USP Courier’s president after that corporation was formed in 1998. USP Network and USP Courier share offices and employees.

Over the years, Glazman has sought to expand his package-delivery business through franchising (i.e., the granting of rights to others to engage in the company’s business under a prescribed brand and marketing plan, in exchange for a fee).5 The New York Franchise Sales Act, N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 688(1), requires anyone who intends to sell franchises in the State to file an offering prospectus [98]*98before sales of, or even offers to sell, franchises.6 Thus, in July 1996, USP Network filed a franchise offering prospectus with the New York State Department of Law. That franchise registration expired, however, on February 1, 1998. And although USP Courier — USP Network’s successor — continued to sell franchises under similar terms, it never filed a franchise offering prospectus with the State.

A form Subscription Agreement (“SA”), which outlined the basic terms of the franchise arrangement, was attached as an exhibit to USP Network’s 1996 prospectus. The SA required each subscriber to pay a $15,000 “subscription fee” in exchange for the right to receive delivery assignments through USP Network’s central dispatch, and entitled each subscriber to a weekly paycheck based on accumulated commissions earned for deliveries made. Although subscribers could pay the entire subscription fee up front, many chose to pay in installments that were deducted weekly from their paychecks. Interest was due on the unpaid balance, however, and as of the publication of the 1996 prospectus, USP Network set the interest rate at 10% per annum.7

USP Network also charged subscribers a one-time “training fee” of $50, a $30 generic “weekly fee,” and a “beeper fee” of $5 to $7.50 per week. Moreover, according to the prospectus, subscribers were personally responsible for a host of operational expenditures, including the purchase or rental of a white cargo van (for purchase, estimated at $15,000 to $20,000); insurance premiums (estimated at $2,500 to $4,000); vehicle registration fees and motor vehicle taxes (estimated at $60 to $110); gasoline (estimated at $25 per tank); and other items, such as uniforms, hand truck .equipment, and maps.8 USP Network treated subscribers as independent contractors and, accordingly, did not withhold any taxes from subscribers’ paychecks.

The SA provided that commission payments made by U.S. Pack to subscribers for deliveries would be based principally on the “type of delivery service requested [by the customer],”9 and “the distance of the delivery.” J.A. 190. A “Schedule of Amounts to be Paid to Subscribers,” appended to the SA, contained tables listing related payment amounts. Id. at 226-93.

On various dates between 1987 and 2000, each plaintiff began to work as a delivery driver for U.S. Pack.10 Almost all plaintiffs [99]*99were recent Eastern European immigrants, and many had limited proficiency in the English language. In deposition testimony or at trial, most plaintiffs acknowledged having signed some form of written agreement with U.S. Pack; some denied, however, that the document signed was the SA attached to the USP Network offering prospectus.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
771 F.3d 93, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kroshnyi-v-us-pack-courier-services-inc-ca2-2014.