Mendez v. U.S. Nonwovens Corp.

2 F. Supp. 3d 442, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28451, 2014 WL 860328
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMarch 5, 2014
DocketNo. 12-CV-5583 (ADS)(WDW)
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 2 F. Supp. 3d 442 (Mendez v. U.S. Nonwovens Corp.) 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
Mendez v. U.S. Nonwovens Corp., 2 F. Supp. 3d 442, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28451, 2014 WL 860328 (E.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

SPATT, District Judge.

On November 13, 2012, the Plaintiffs Efrain Danilo Mendez a/k/a Efrain D. Mendez-Rivera (“Mendez”); Aldraily Alberto Coiscou (“Coiscou”); Fernando Molina a/k/a Jorge Luis Flores Larios (“Molina”); Siryi Nayrobik Melendez (“Melendez”); and Rene Alexander Oliva (“Oliva,” and collectively, the “Original Plaintiffs”) commenced this action by filing a Complaint (the “Original Complaint”) against the Defendants U.S. Nonwovens Corp. (“U.S. Nonwovens”); Samuel Mehdizadeh a/k/a Solomon Meh-dizadeh (“Samuel”); Shervin Mehdizadeh (“Shervin”) and Rody Mehdizadeh (“Rody,” and collectively the “Defendants”).

In their Original Complaint, the Original Plaintiffs asserted the following causes of action: (1) a collective action claim pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. (the “FLSA”), and specifically 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), alleging that the Defendants failed to pay the Original Plaintiffs overtime compensation for the hours they worked in excess of a forty hour work week; (2) a class action claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Fed. R. Civ. P.”) 23 and New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) Article 19 alleging that the Defendants failed to pay the Original Plaintiffs and putative class members overtime compensation for the hours they worked in excess of a forty hour work week; (3) a class action claim pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 23 and NYLL Article 19 alleging that the Defendants failed to pay the Original Plaintiffs and putative class members overtime compensation in a timely manner; (4) a class action claim pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 23 and NYLL Article 19 alleging that the Defendants failed to pay the Original Plaintiffs and putative class members additional compensation of one hour’s pay at the minimum hourly wage rate for each day during which the spread of hours exceeded ten hours; and (5) a class action claim pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 23 and the NYLL alleging that the Defendants failed to comply with the notice provisions of the Wage Theft Prevention Act (“WTPA”), Article 6 of the [445]*445NYLL, and more specifically NYLL § 195-1.

Presently before the Court is a motion by the Original Plaintiffs, together with Juan Flores-Larios (“Flores-Larios”); Ramiro Cordova (“Cordova”) and Daniel Sante (“Sante,” and collectively with the Original Plaintiffs, the “Plaintiffs”) to amend the Original Complaint under Fed. R.Civ.P. 15(a). In this regard, the Plaintiff seeks to (1) add Flores-Larios; Cordo-va and Sante as named Plaintiffs and class representatives; (2) insert a first cause of action asserting a collective action claim pursuant to FLSA 29 U.S.C. 201 et seq., and 29 C.F.R. § 778.106, alleging that the Defendants failed to pay the Plaintiffs overtime compensation in a timely manner; (3) renumber the first through fifth causes of action as the second through sixth causes of action; (4) add a Fed.R.Civ.P. 23 class action claim for New York State common law breach of contract, alleging that the Defendants failed to play the Plaintiffs and the putative class members promised wages; and (5) supplement the “Nature of the Action” and “Summary of Causes of Action” portions of the Original Complaint accordingly. The Plaintiffs included with their motion a Proposed First Amended Complaint (the “Amended Complaint”). In addition, with their reply papers, the Plaintiffs have submitted a Revised Proposed First Amended Complaint (the “Revised Amended Complaint”) in order to accommodate concerns raised by the Defendants in their opposition to the Plaintiffs motion to amend.

The Court pauses here to note that the Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint, Revised Amended Complaint, motion papers and reply use footnotes, which is contrary to this Court’s Individual Rule II.A. Notwithstanding this infraction, the Court will consider the Plaintiffs’ papers in rendering its decision. However, the Court advises the Plaintiffs’ counsel that any future filings that contain footnotes will not be considered by this Court.

For the reasons that follow, the Court grants the Plaintiffs’ motion.

I. BACKGROUND

The following facts are derived from the Original Complaint, the Amended Complaint and the Revised Amended Complaint and are construed in the light most favorable to the Plaintiffs.

The Defendant U.S. Nonwovens, a domestic business corporation that is organized and existing under New York State law, manufacturers a wide variety of products, such as household cleaning products; disposable cleaning wipes for personal hygiene and other cleaning uses; other non-woven products; and laundry cleaning and care products. U.S. Nonwovens clients include Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Sears, CVS and Walgreens. In addition to operating three factories located in Brentwood, New York, U.S. Nonwovens also maintains a warehouse and distribution center located in Hauppauge, New York. U.S. Nonwovens is considered a covered employer within the meaning of the FLSA and NYLL and has a gross volume of sales made or business done that is not less than $500,000 per year.

The individual Defendants Samuel, Shervin and Rody Mehdizadeh (collectively, the “Individual Defendants”) are shareholders in U.S. Nonwovens and together own one hundred percent of the outstanding shares of stock of U.S. Nonwovens. Shervin and Rody are brothers, while Samuel is their father. According to the Revised Amended Complaint, the Individual Defendants obtained a controlling interest in U.S. Nonwovens in 2005.

Prior to becoming a shareholder in U.S. Nonwovens in October of 2005, on January [446]*4462, 1997, Samuel was hired by U.S. Non-wovens to serve as the General Manager. In that role, he was responsible for the U.S. Nonwovens day-to-day operations. Since then, Samuel has served as the U.S. Nonwovens General Manager, President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Although the Original Complaint identifies Samuel as the President of U.S. Nonwov-ens, the Revised Amended Complaint does not state what his current role is in the company beyond asserting that he is a shareholder.

Also on January 2, 1997, U.S. Nonwov-ens hired Shervin as Assistant Manager. Shervin has served U.S. Nonwovens in various capacities and is currently the company’s Chief Executive Officer. In addition, Rody is the Chief Operating Officer of U.S. Nonwovens. The Revised Amended Complaint does not contain any factual allegations as to when Rody began his involvement with U.S. Nonwovens.

According to the Plaintiffs, the Individual Defendants are actively involved in managing U.S. Nonwovens day-to-day operations.

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2 F. Supp. 3d 442, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28451, 2014 WL 860328, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mendez-v-us-nonwovens-corp-nyed-2014.