MTA Bus Non-Union Employees Rank & File Committee ex rel. Simone v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority

899 F. Supp. 2d 256, 2012 WL 4782736, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143953
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 25, 2012
DocketNo. 11 Civ. 4493 JSR
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 899 F. Supp. 2d 256 (MTA Bus Non-Union Employees Rank & File Committee ex rel. Simone v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority) 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
MTA Bus Non-Union Employees Rank & File Committee ex rel. Simone v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 899 F. Supp. 2d 256, 2012 WL 4782736, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143953 (S.D.N.Y. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER

JED S. RAKOFF, District Judge.

The MTA Bus Non-Union Employees Rank and File Committee (the “Committee”), along with fourteen individual plaintiffs, bring this action against defendants Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“MTA”) and the MTA Bus Company (“MTA Bus”). The individual plaintiffs are non-union current or former employees of MTA Bus and constitute the sole members of the Committee. Joint Statement of Material Facts Pursuant to Local Rule 56.1 (“Joint 56.1”) ¶¶ 5-6. Before they were employees of MTA Bus,- the individual plaintiffs worked at New York Bus Service (“New York Bus”). Id. ¶ 7. Plaintiffs assert that defendants engaged in 1) violations of the Equal Protection Clauses of the United States Constitution and the New York State Constitution, 2) two distinct breaches of contract, 3) a violation of Section 115 of the New York Civil Services Law, and 4) negligent misrepresentation, all in connection with pension benefits that plaintiffs received or failed to receive from MTA Bus.

The parties do not dispute any of the underlying facts, and as a result, submitted a joint statement of material facts in connection with their respective motions for summary judgment. Defendants moved for summary judgment, on all claims, and plaintiffs moved for summary judgment on the equal protection and breach of contract claims. After careful consideration of the parties’ written submissions and oral arguments, the Court hereby grants the defendants’ motion for summary judgment on all claims.

MTA Bus is a public benefit corporation and a subsidiary of the MTA. Id. ¶ 3. It was created in 2004 to provide bus services in areas formerly served by seven private franchise bus companies, namely New York Bus and six other private bus companies (collectively the “Seven Private Bus Companies”).1 Id.

Each of the fourteen individual plaintiffs was formerly employed by New York Bus. Id. ¶ 7. Those employees began employment with MTA Bus in July of 2005 as non-union employees. Id. ¶¶ 7-8.

Eleven of the fourteen plaintiffs received and accepted an offer letter (the “Offer Letter”) for employment at MTA Bus, which set forth the terms of their employment.2 In relevant part, the Offer Letter stated:

You will begin participation in the MTA Defined Benefits Pension Plan, which will mirror the benefits provided by the [259]*259New York Bus Service Employee’s Pension Plan.
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In the event of a discrepancy between the terms of this offer letter and the Pension Plan document or MTA policies, the Pension Plan document and the MTA policies shall govern in all cases. Like all non-represented employees of the MTA and its agencies, the outlined benefits and the like are subject to modification. However, you will not be treated differently than other non-represented MTA employees.

Joint 56.1 Ex. 10.3

Plaintiffs and other former employees of the Seven Private Bus Companies were assigned to particular articles of the MTA Defined Benefit Plan (the “MTA DB Plan”) based on their previous employer. Id. ¶ 63. MTA Bus employees formerly employed by New York Bus, including the plaintiffs here, were assigned to Article 16 of the MTA DB Plan. Id. ¶ 63(c). Under Article 16, plaintiffs were entitled to receive a pension benefit calculated at $82 for each year of service with a normal retirement age of 62. Id. This mirrored the benefits they were entitled to receive under the New York Bus pension plan at the time of their transition to MTA Bus. Joint 56.1 ¶¶ 63(c); 64.

Local 100 (“Local 100”) of the Transport Workers Union represented the unionized MTA Bus employees who formerly worked for five of the private bus companies, including those unionized workers who formerly worked for New York Bus. Id. ¶ 67. During the course of collective bargaining between MTA Bus and Local 100, an impasse was declared and the dispute went to arbitration. Id. ¶ 67. After, the arbitration, and pursuant to an impasse award (the “impasse award”) and further negotiations, all unionized employees of MTA Bus were assigned to Modified Article 14 of the MTA DB Plan and became entitled to a pension benefit calculated at $105 for each year of service with a normal retirement age at 57. Id. Also pursuant to the impasse award, the required pension contributions for unionized former New York Bus employees increased from $25.00 to $29.06 per week. Id.

Approval by the MTA Board (after review and approval by the MTA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer) is required before any amendment to the MTA DB Plan can be passed. Id. ¶ 66. After the arbitrator’s impasse award, MTA Bus’s President, Joseph Smith, wrote a letter and proposal to the MTA’s Chairman and CEO, Jay Walder, stating that “[fjor some of these employees, MTA Bus is faced with a situation where the pension benefits for its nonrepresented employees [including plaintiffs] are less than those of the employees they manage, which is not an effective pension policy.” Joint 56.1 Ex. 27. Smith recommended that MTA Bus amend the MTA DB Plan to increase the pension benefits of non-unionized MTA Bus employees, including plaintiffs. Id. ¶¶ 65, 91-95; Ex. 27. MTA Bus management also referred to “pension inequities” between MTA Bus employees in several documents given to Walder. Id. ¶ 87, 89.

Walder asked Margaret Connor, the MTA Senior Director, Human Resources and Retirement Programs, to examine Smith’s recommendations. Id. ¶¶ 96-97. In January 2011, after the conclusion of collective bargaining negotiations with the [260]*260unionized employees,4 Connor prepared a proposed amendment to the MTA DB Plan, which incorporated Smith’s recommendations and increased the pension benefits of certain non-represented MTA Bus employees (including plaintiffs) by assigning them to Modified Article 14 of the MTA DB Plan. Id. ¶ 107. Connor believed that, “as a human resources matter, it was not a good practice” for supervisors to be entitled to lesser pension benefits than the employees they supervised. Id. ¶ 108. Even though the proposed amendment would only affect 248 employees at MTA Bus, see Plaintiffs Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (“Pis.’ Answering Mem.”) at 3, it was estimated that adopting the proposed amendment would cost MTA Bus approximately $255,000 per year. Joint 56.1 Ex. 27.

When Connor and Walder discussed this proposal in January 2011, Walder determined that the “human resources benefits” were insufficient to justify advancing the proposal to the MTA Board. Joint 56.1 ¶ 109. Walder noted MTA’s constrained financial circumstances (which had already resulted in recent fare increases, service cuts, and layoffs); the efforts of the MTA, New York State and New York City to cut pensions to reduce costs; and the MTA’s ongoing negotiations with the Transport Workers Union regarding pension reform. Id. Walder and Connor concluded that the proposal would undermine the MTA’s pension reform efforts, would not be consistent with the MTA’s precarious financial situation, and might not be approved by the Finance Committee. Id.

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899 F. Supp. 2d 256, 2012 WL 4782736, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143953, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mta-bus-non-union-employees-rank-file-committee-ex-rel-simone-v-nysd-2012.