Locke v. ST. AUGUSTINE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

690 F. Supp. 2d 77, 15 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1695, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18749, 2010 WL 743924
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMarch 3, 2010
Docket07-CV-3226 (JMA)
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 690 F. Supp. 2d 77 (Locke v. ST. AUGUSTINE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH) 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
Locke v. ST. AUGUSTINE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 690 F. Supp. 2d 77, 15 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1695, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18749, 2010 WL 743924 (E.D.N.Y. 2010).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

AZRACK, United States Magistrate Judge:

On August 3, 2007, Kenneth Locke (“plaintiff’ or “Locke”) sued St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church (“St. Augustine’s”) and the Reverend Canon Howard K. Williams (“Rev. Williams”) (collectively, “defendants”) pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219 (the “FLSA”), and New York Labor Law §§ 190, 650 (2007, 2004) (the “NYLL”) for unpaid minimum wages, overtime compensation, and “spread of hours” pay, as well as an additional equal amount in liquidated damages. (Dkt. No. 1.) On March 12, 2009, the parties consented to my jurisdiction for all purposes pursuant to 23 U.S.C. § 636. (Dkt. No. 26.) By motion dated December 15, 2009, *80 defendants filed for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c). (Dkt. No. 35.) For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants defendants’ motion. Specifically, the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the action because the FLSA does not cover St. Augustine’s as an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce or Locke as an individual employee engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce. The Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims and dismisses these claims without prejudice.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The Episcopal Church of the United States (the “Episcopal Church”) oversees 111 geographic areas, known as dioceses. (PI. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 4; Aff. of Chancellor Robert Fardella, St. James Church, Elmhurst v. Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, et al., No. 22564/05 (N.Y.Sup.Ct. Apr. 29, 2008) (“St. James Church, Elmhurst ”) (“PI. Ex. C”) ¶ 6; Aff. of Rev. Dr. J. Robert Wright, St. James Church, Elmhurst (“PI. Ex. F”) ¶ 6.) The dioceses oversee 7,600 worshipping congregations, known as parishes. (PI. Ex. F ¶ 6.) The parishes serve 2.5 million congregants. (Id.) As a function of the hierarchical structure of the Episcopal Church, parishes are bound by church canons, cannot take action in conflict with the decisions of the dioceses or Episcopal Church, and cannot unilaterally disaffiliate from either. (PI. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 5; PI. Ex. C ¶ 4b; Aff. of Dr. Robert Bruce Mullin, St James Church, Elmhurst (“PI. Ex. E”) ¶¶ 6-9, 35.) Parishes receive contributions from congregants and remit some of this income to the dioceses, and the dioceses contribute some income to the Episcopal Church. (PI. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 8; PI. Ex. E ¶ 33.) The clergy of each parish may then receive the sacraments, baptize, educate, marry, and bury congregants, and lead regular worship. (PI. Ex. E ¶ 33) Parishes also receive property, insurance, access to the Church Pension system, and funding beyond what congregants provide. (PI. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 3, 7; Order for St. James Church, Elmhurst (“PI. Ex. B”) at 3; PI. Exs. E ¶ 34, F ¶¶ 5, 26-36, 46.)

The Diocese of Long Island, New York (“the Diocese”) is a diocese of the Episcopal Church. (PI. Ex. C ¶ 10.) The Diocese maintains an Investment Fund and Medical Trust that provides pension and health benefits to clergy and employees. (PI. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 9, 16; PI. Exs. D ¶ 3e, I.) The Diocese manages the payroll procedures of the parishes. (PI. 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 67-68; PI. Ex. J; Rev. Williams Dep. 26:13-27:6.) The Diocese issues a monthly newsletter, The Dominion, News of the Diocese of Long Island (“The Dominion”), to publicize fundraising efforts by the parishes, advice about fundraising, opportunities and accomplishments in philanthropy, notices and reviews of national and international conventions, community meetings, and youth events, opinion articles regarding ecclesiastic matters, messages from the Bishop, news and pictures of parishes, clergy, and, congregants, obituaries, and help-wanted advertisements. (PI. 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 10-15, 17-66; PI. Exs. G-DD, GG.)

St. Augustine’s is a parish of the Diocese. (PI. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 1; Rev. Williams Dep. 21:20-22:3.) St. Augustine’s owns four buildings on Avenue D in Brooklyn, New York. (Answer ¶¶ 6-7; Rev. Williams Dep. 31:3-7.) 4301 Avenue D houses the church and Noel Hall, a space for events. (Answer ¶ 7; Rev. Williams Dep. 31:3-33:1, 44:11-15.) 4313 Avenue D houses a two-bedroom apartment, offices, a choir room, and a reception area (“the Annex Bldg.”). (Answer ¶ 7; Rev. Williams Dep. *81 31:8-19.) 4314 Avenue D houses a Sunday school on the upper floor and a rental commercial space on the ground floor. (Rev. Williams Dep. 31:3-33:1.) An insurance company rented the ground floor space during some period after 1999. (Rev. Williams Dep. 31:18-33:1.) 4315 Avenue D houses a space for events (“the Patterson Bldg.”). (Answer ¶ 7; Rev. Williams Dep. 31:3-33:1.)

St. Augustine’s rents Noel Hall and the Patterson Bldg, for events, such as baptisms, bridal showers, memorial services, Election Day polling, and visits by state-run Elderplan, on any day of the week except Sunday. (Rev. Williams Dep. 37:17-39:10; 49:12-17, 80:12-22; Defs.’ Ex. 12.) St. Augustine’s charges $350 for funerals, $300 for memorial services, $210 per day to the Board of Elections, $200 for weddings, and $75 for baptisms. (Defs.’ Ex. 12.) Events generally begin as early as two in the afternoon and end as late as two in the morning. (Locke Dep. 173:14-12; Rev. Williams Dep. 39:11-23.)

Rev. Lloyd Henry (“Rev. Henry”) served as Rector of St. Augustine’s until 1999. (Rev. Williams Dep. 23:8-15.) In 1982, Rev. Henry hired Locke to clean the church. (Compl. ¶ 12; Locke Dep. 17:8-19, 33:20-24; Defs.’ Summ. J. Mem. at 4; Rev. Williams Dep. 23:8-15, 30:21-31:2.) Locke became the sole custodian and caretaker of St. Augustine’s. (Answer ¶ 14; Locke Dep. 33:20-24.) Locke worked seven days a week. (PI. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 71; Locke Dep. 35:4-36:25.) On Sundays, Locke worked from seven in the morning until services ended and he cleaned the church. (Locke Dep. 37:25-42:3.) On all other days, Locke worked from eight in the morning until five in the evening, though he often cleaned the church after evening services. (Id. at 42:4-20, 47:3-20.) Locke’s custodial duties included sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming the buildings and bathrooms, removing garbage, flushing the air conditioner, maintaining the boiler, and clearing the sidewalks of trash, leaves, and snow. (PL 56.1 Stmt. ¶¶ 72-75; Locke Dep. 55:4-68:21, 130:6-132:21; Rev. Williams Dep. 44:21-45:16, 46:3-5.) Locke was on-call at all hours if a problem arose with the electricity, plumbing, air conditioner, or boiler. (PL 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 81; Locke Dep. 78:24-79:24.) When Rev. Williams joined St. Augustine’s in 1999, he increased the hours Locke worked by requiring him to turn off the building’s alarm at seven every morning and turn on the alarm after church functions concluded every evening. (Locke Dep. 52:14-54:19, 77:3-8, 96:12-17; Rev. Williams Dep. 47:1-48:2.)

Locke paid the electrical, plumbing, and oil vendors on behalf of St. Augustine’s, purchased cleaning supplies from Murray’s Hardware located around the corner, picked-up church vestments and Rev.

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690 F. Supp. 2d 77, 15 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 1695, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18749, 2010 WL 743924, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/locke-v-st-augustines-episcopal-church-nyed-2010.