Krumholz v. Village of Northport

873 F. Supp. 2d 481, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95393, 2012 WL 2775029
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJuly 10, 2012
DocketNo. 09-cv-4277 (JFB)(ARL)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 873 F. Supp. 2d 481 (Krumholz v. Village of Northport) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Krumholz v. Village of Northport, 873 F. Supp. 2d 481, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95393, 2012 WL 2775029 (E.D.N.Y. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

JOSEPH F. BIANCO, District Judge:

Plaintiff MaryClaire Krumholz (“Krumholz”) brought this action against the Village of Northport (“the Village”) alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), due process violations in contravention of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and wrongful termination pursuant to New York State law. The Village moved for summary judgment, arguing that plaintiff is an exempt employee under the FLSA, the Village did not violate plaintiffs right to due process, and plaintiffs action under state law is improperly before this Court and is time-barred.1 The Village further argued [483]*483that it was entitled to summary judgment on its counterclaims for conversion and breach of fiduciary duty. Specifically, the Village asserted that plaintiff converted approximately $149,500 in Village funds by (1) drafting checks payable to herself for a total of approximately $115,900, and (2) having the Village pay the IRS and NYS tax on her behalf for approximately $33,600. Plaintiff countered that she was properly compensating herself for accumulated “comp, time,” and believed she had been given permission to draft checks payable to herself. Plaintiff also cross-moved for partial summary judgment on the wrongful termination claim.

For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants defendant’s motion for summary judgment on the FLSA claim, which is the only remaining federal claim. In particular, the Court holds as a matter of law, based upon the uncontroverted facts, that plaintiff was exempt from the FLSA’s overtime pay requirements because, as the Village Treasurer, she was “employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity.” 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1). Although there are some disputed facts regarding certain aspects of plaintiff’s duties, it is undisputed that, as the Village Treasurer, she had, inter alia, the following primary duties and authorities: (1) she was responsible for drafting the Village Budget; (2) she had the authority to open bank accounts on behalf of the Village; (3) she had the authority to act as the sole check signatory on behalf of the Village for checks under $5,000; (4) she supervised the work of the person in charge of accounts payable and the person in charge of payroll; and (5) she had the authority to decide where to invest the Village’s excess money, and used her judgment to make the decision and get the best interest rate for the Village. These ’ uncontroverted facts demonstrate as a matter of law that her primary duties certainly relate to “the performance of office or non-manual work directly related to the management or general business operations” of the Village, and “include[d] the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance.” 29 C.F.R. § 541.200(a)(2)-(3). Thus, plaintiff is exempt from the FLSA’s overtime pay requirements as an administrative employee. No rational trier of fact could conclude otherwise given these undisputed facts. Accordingly, the disputed facts regarding certain aspects of her other duties simply do not create a genuine issue of material fact for trial on the FLSA claim, and summary judgment in defendant’s favor on that claim is warranted. Given that the sole remaining federal claim does not survive summary judgment, the Court in its discretion declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims, including plaintiffs wrongful termination claim, as well as defendant’s counterclaims.

I. Background

A. Factual Background

The Court has taken the facts set forth below from the parties’ depositions, affidavits,- and exhibits, and from the parties’ respective Rule 56.1 Statements of Facts. Upon consideration of a motion for summary judgment, the Court shall construe the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. See Capobianco v. City of New York, 422 F.3d 47, 50 (2d Cir.2005). Unless otherwise noted, where a party’s 56.1 Statement is cited, that fact is undis[484]*484puted or the opposing party has pointed to no evidence in the record to contradict it.2

Plaintiff was appointed as the Treasurer of the Village of Northport under the proposal of Mayor George Doll pursuant to the New York State Village Law and the vote of the Village Board of Trustees effective June 7, 2006. (Def.’s 56.1 ¶ 4.) Plaintiffs starting salary was $60,000 per year plus $4,500 in lieu of health benefits. (Id.) Plaintiff has a degree in Business Administration from Hofstra University, and was one quarter of the way to obtaining a Masters in Business Administration prior to her employment with the Village. (Id. ¶¶ 1, 2.) Before working as the Village Treasurer, plaintiff was a Certified Public Accountant. (Id. ¶ 2.) She worked as an accountant and an assistant comptroller for private companies. (Def.’s 56.1 ¶ 3; PL’s 56.1 ¶ 3.)

The parties do not dispute that plaintiff had the following duties in her position as Village Treasurer: (1) Plaintiff supervised and reviewed the work of the payroll clerk and the accounts payable clerk. (Def.’s 56.1 ¶ 14.) (2) Plaintiff signed off on the work of the persons whom she supervised. She made the final determination as to what was accurate. (Id. at ¶ 15.) (3) Plaintiff was autonomous in respect to those she supervised and relied on her own judgment as to supervision and training. (Id. at ¶ 16.) (4) Plaintiff was one of only four people in the Village authorized to sign checks. The other three were the Village Clerk, the Deputy Village Clerk, and the Deputy Treasurer.3 (Def.’s 56.1 ¶ 17; PL’s 56.1 ¶ 17.) (5) Plaintiff was the only person other than the Mayor who was authorized to open banking accounts. (Def.’s 56.1 ¶ 18; PL’s 56.1 ¶ 18.) (6) Plaintiff reviewed others’ work, assisted others with their work, performed bank reconciliations, made sure items were being posted properly in the ledger, made journal entries, corrected miscoding of accounts, and recorded items of depreciation. (Def.’s 56.1 ¶ 19.) (7) Plaintiff supervised the drafting of the Village budget and reported directly to the Commissioner of Finance, who was a member of the Board of Trustees. (Id. ¶20; PL’s 56.1 ¶20.) (8) Plaintiff had the assistance of department heads when she drafted the budget. She was the department head for, the line of employees of the Treasurer. (Def.’s 56.1 ¶ 21.) (9) Plaintiff had the authority to decide where to invest the Village’s excess money. She used her judgment to make the decision and get the best interest rate for the Village. (Id. ¶ 23.) (10) When plaintiff was Treasurer, the Village policy was that she could sign the Village checks if they were for less than $5,000, without requiring a second signature. (Id. ¶ 28.) Indeed, plaintiff drafted several Village general fund checks payable to herself for amounts less than $5,000 during the period of October 31, 2007 through February 11, 2009. (Id. ¶¶ 11, 12, 39, 57.) At no time did plaintiff obtain a second signature for any check made payable to herself. (Id. ¶ 29.)

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873 F. Supp. 2d 481, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95393, 2012 WL 2775029, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/krumholz-v-village-of-northport-nyed-2012.