Kutluca v. PQ New York Inc.

266 F. Supp. 3d 691
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJuly 10, 2017
Docket16-CV-3070 (VSB)
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 266 F. Supp. 3d 691 (Kutluca v. PQ New York Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kutluca v. PQ New York Inc., 266 F. Supp. 3d 691 (S.D.N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & OPINION

Vernon S. Broderick, United States District Judge:

Plaintiffs commenced this wage and hour putative class and collective action against Defendants PQ New York, Inc., PQ Operations, Inc., PQ 933 Broadway, Inc., PQ Central Park, Inc., and P.Q. Licensing S.A. (collectively, “Defendants”) alleging various violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq. (“FLSA”) and New York Labor Law, Art. 19 § 650 et seq. (“NYLL”). Before me is Defendants’ motion to compel arbitration and dismiss Plaintiffs’ class action complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). (Doc. 52.) Also before me is Plaintiffs’ motion for leave to file an amended complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a). (Doc. 87.) For the reasons set forth herein, I find that Plaintiffs’ claims fall within the scope of the parties’ binding arbitration agreement, and thus Defendants’motion to compel arbitration, (Doc. 52), is GRANTED. In addition, because I find that the claims asserted in Plaintiffs’ proposed amended complaint are also subject to the parties’ binding arbitration agreement, the proposed amendment is futile and thus Plaintiffs’ motion for leave to file an amend complaint, (Doc. 87), is DENIED.

I. Background

A. Plaintiffs’ FLSA and NYLL Claims

Defendants own Le Pain. Quotidien restaurants throughout the United States. (Compl. ¶¶ 1, 9.)1 Plaintiffs Cuneyt Kutlu-ca, Taniqua Brown, Angelica George, Jose Martinez, and Ryan Cummings (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) were employed by Defendants as tipped sérvers and/or baristas at certain of Defendants’ restaurants located in New York. (Id.) Plaintiffs allege that Defendants violated the FLSA and NYLL by failing to pay Plaintiffs the federal- and New York minimum and overtime wages, failing to pay “spread of hours” pay, unlawfully retaining Plaintiffs’ earned tips, failing to provide required notices, and failing to pay for the cost of laundering required uniforms. (Id. ¶ 4.) Plaintiffs bring’their claims on behalf of themselves and on behalf of similarly situated individuals. (Id. ¶¶ 36, 84.)

B. Defendants’ Relationship with TriNet

In December 2014, Defendant PQ New York, Inc. entered into a customer service [694]*694agreement with TriNet Group, Inc. (“TriNet”), pursuant to which TriNet would provide professional employer organization services to Defendants, including administering payroll and healthcare benefits. (Gordon Decl. ¶2.)2 In addition, the agreement provided that TriNet and PQ New York, Inc. would be co-employers, which means that TriNet and PQ New York, Inc. agreed to share certain employer responsibilities with respect to Defendants’. employees. (Id.) Under the agreement, Defendants, as the “worksite employer,” retained responsibility for directing the day to day work of employees, and TriNet became responsible for providing human resources and compliance support, administering benefits, and processing payroll. (Id.)

Passport is TriNet’s Human Resource Information System for payroll and benefits management. (Id. ¶3.) Defendants’ employees utilize Passport for all their human resource needs, including but not limited to, payroll processing, benefits enrollment, paid time off requests, workers’ compensation issues, and accessing copies of pay stubs and tax forms. (Id.)

In December 2014, Defendants informed their existing employees that they were entering into a co-employer relationship with TriNet. (Id. ¶ 4.) During the weeks of December 8 and 15, 2014, Defendants held information sessions for their existing employees regarding Passport. (Id.) All Defendants’ existing employees were directed to access Passport through its electronic portal and instructed to complete electronic documentation regarding the terms and conditions of their employment, payroll processing, and benefits administration. (Id.) From December 2014 until the present, Defendants’ new employees were required to attend a new employee orientation during which they were informed of the co-employer relationship between TriNet and Defendants. (Id. ¶ 5.) During a new employee orientation, new employees are directed to the Passport portal and instructed to complete necessary electronic documentation regarding the terms and conditions of their employment, payroll processing, and benefits administration. (Id.) If this electronic documentation is not completed by the new employee within three days of their date of hire their employment is terminated. (Id.)

Since Defendants and TriNet entered into their co-employer relationship, employees’ paychecks list both Le Pain Quoti-den and TriNet HR as their employer. (Id. ¶8.) Employees with questions or problems related to their payroll could contact either PQ’s Human Resources department or TriNet’s Solutions Center, and PQ and TriNet would work together to resolve any issues regarding payroll, including by TriNet making a payroll adjustment in an employee’s next paycheck or issuing a hardcopy check to an employee. (Id. ¶ 7.)

C. Terms and Conditions Agreement and Dispute Resolution Protocol

TriNet’s Passport is a password-protected on-line environment, and when every worksite employee first accesses the Passport system they must enter both a user-name and a temporary password, provided by Defendants as the worksite employer, (Belloise Decl. ¶8.)3 Employees are then required to change their temporary password and generate their own unique passwords at the beginning of their employment. (Id.) When a first time user of the [695]*695Passport portal logs into his or her account, the first screen the user sees is an electronic version of 'TriNet’s Terms and Conditions Agreement (“TCA”). (Id. ¶¶8, 10.) The TCA contains, among other things, TriNet’s dispute resolution protocol (“DPR”).. (Id. ¶ 10.) The first time user is also required to enter a valid e-mail address at the bottom of the screen and then click on a button marked “I Accept.” (See id. ¶ 15.) Accepting the TCA and DRP is a condition of employment with TriNet. (Id. ¶ 11.) Thus, users of TriNet’s Passport portal, including Plaintiffs, cannot access the rest of the Passport system until they accept the terms of the TCA and DRP. (Id.)

Upon logging into the Passport portal, the user is presented with the TCA which begins with the following text: “PLEASE READ THIS TCA CAREFULLY. IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ... THE HAND-LIND OF ANY DISPUTES ARISING OUT OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH TRINET OR A TRINET CUSTOMER. ...” (TCA preamble.) Section 1 of the TCA is titled “Co-Employment vs. Standard Employment” and states, in part, that:

If your relationship with TriNet is beginning because the company at which you work has become a TriNet customer, this means that your company has entered into a customer service agreement with TriNet to share certain employer responsibilities as co-employers ....

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Bluebook (online)
266 F. Supp. 3d 691, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kutluca-v-pq-new-york-inc-nysd-2017.