Muhammad v. Alto Pharmacy LLC

District Court, S.D. New York·Decided May 1, 2025·No. 1:23-cv-11315·Unknown

Opinion

USDC SDNY UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DOCUMENT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ELECTRONICALLY FILED

AFIYFAH MUHAMMAD, et al., DATE FILED:_5/1/2025____ Plaintiffs 23-CV-11315 (KHP) OPINION AND ORDER ON “against: MOTION FOR CONDITIONAL CERTIFICATION ALTO PHARMACY LLC, et al., —

Defendants. +--+ ------ X KATHARINE H. PARKER, United States Magistrate Judge: Plaintiffs Afiyfah Muhammad, Darwin Wilson, and Dominique Skinner worked as couriers/delivery drivers? for Alto Pharmacy LLC (“Alto”) in New York City. They filed this action on December 30, 2023, claiming that Alto failed to pay couriers overtime wages as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL’), N.Y. Lab. Law § 190 et seq. and seeking to represent a class and collective of similarly situated couriers who worked for Alto in New York City from January 1, 2021 to July 16, 2024. They now move pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) for an order “conditionally certifying” this case as an FLSA collective action and authorizing notice to be sent to potential opt-in plaintiffs. ECF No. 75. For the following reasons, Plaintiffs’ motion is granted.

1 The Court uses the terms “courier” and “delivery driver” interchangeably.

BACKGROUND2 Alto is a pharmacy founded in 2015 that now operates in multiple cities across the United States, including New York City. ECF No. 65, Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) ¶¶ 26-

27. Customers do not pick up prescriptions; rather, prescriptions are ordered online and then delivered by couriers. According to the SAC, couriers are the primary workforce and were required to deliver prescriptions to customers in all five boroughs. SAC ¶ 9. Alto’s website described the duties of a courier. It included language setting forth courier “Responsibilities” as “arriv[ing] at our pharmacy on time for your shift to pick up packages before you begin your route, and deliver[ing] prescriptions to patients while ensuring

a great customer experience.” SAC ¶ 12. Qualifications included having “a track record of good attendance, positive attitude, and flexibility,” and being able to drive “within any of our delivery zones.” Id. Individuals who wanted to work as couriers had to submit an online application with Alto. SAC ¶ 47. Alto required new couriers to attend a mandatory company orientation at which it introduced workplace culture, operations and workplace rules. SAC ¶ 48. After that

orientation, new couriers had to attend a mandatory training session that described Alto’s software and operating technology. SAC ¶ 49. Couriers were assigned an i.d. number and given an independent contractor agreement to sign. SAC ¶ 50. Each of the Plaintiffs signed such an agreement. SAC ¶ 50; Charles Dec., Exh. A; Muhammad Dec. ¶ 12, Exh. A; Wilson Dec. ¶ 3, Exh.

2 The Court relies on the allegations in the Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) (ECF No. 65), and the Declarations of Fred v. Charles (“Charles Dec.”), Afiyfah Muhammad (“Muhammad Dec.”), Darwin Wilson (“Wilson Dec.”), and Dominique Skinner (“Skinner Dec.”) and exhibits appended thereto (all submitted in connection with the instant motion) in setting forth the factual background herein. The counterclaim allegations, for which no answer has been interposed, assert that Plaintiffs were independent contractors based on the language of the independent contractor agreements they each signed are referenced herein as “CC”. Counterclaims, ECF No. 67. The Court also cites to the Declaration of Joshua Howard, Alto Senior Program Manager (“Howard Dec.”), ECF 88 and exhibits thereto. A; Skinner Dec. ¶ 12, Exh. A. Alto represents that it terminated all independent contractor arrangements on July 17, 2024. ECF No. 88, Howard Dec. ¶ 4. Once the initial training and paperwork was completed, couriers could begin delivering

medicines. Alto required couriers to log into its scheduling system, which was called “When I Work,” to select work shifts. SAC ¶ 75. It also provided for tracking of deliveries out with couriers and payment for deliveries. SAC ¶¶ 71-72, 75. Alto also communicated with couriers through Slack while they were out on delivery. SAC ¶ 73; Muhammad Dec. ¶ 10. Alto determined which deliveries couriers would complete, and its dispatchers and area supervisors monitored, disciplined and discharged couriers who failed to comply with company policies.

SAC ¶¶ 96-98. As an example, Plaintiffs say Alto dispatcher La’Tasha Flowers-McAdas sent a Slack message to all couriers threatening immediate termination if they failed to return undelivered packages in the precise manner she instructed. SAC ¶ 99. Plaintiff Muhammad worked for Alto from in or around September 2022 to July 16, 2024. SAC ¶ 7; Muhammad Dec. ¶ 3. Plaintiff Wilson worked for Alto from in or around

January 2022 through July 2023. SAC ¶ 14; Wilson Dec. ¶ 3. Plaintiff Skinner worked for Alto from in or around March 2022 through February 2023. SAC ¶ 20; Skinner Dec. ¶ 3. Couriers worked Mondays through Saturdays during two shifts, which spanned from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (or until final delivery was made). SAC ¶¶ 77, 79-80. Once couriers sign up for shifts, the system assigns them routes and identifies customers along the route to whom deliveries must be made. SAC ¶ 78. Couriers were required to report to Alto’s Park Avenue address in

Manhattan to pick up prescriptions at the beginning of their shift and generally made between 13 to 17 deliveries per shift. SAC ¶ 79. If a delivery could not be made, couriers had to return the medicine to Alto at the end of their shift. SAC ¶ 83. Couriers were required to clock-out at the end of a morning shift and clock-in at the start of an afternoon shift. SAC ¶ 80. Most couriers worked two shifts per day. SAC ¶ 80. Couriers were not compensated for hours

between the morning and afternoon shift or for the time spent waiting to pick up packages to be delivered during the shift. SAC ¶¶ 81-82. Shifts were either four or five hours. SAC ¶ 76. From this, the Court infers that morning shifts were from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 or 1:00 p.m. and that evening shifts were from 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., meaning that mid-day breaks were between 12:00 and 5:00 p.m., with the shortest being 3 hours long and the longest being 5 hours long. Thus, the maximum workday covering two five-hour shifts would be 10 hours of

work with a three-hour mid-day break. The Court infers that overtime hours, when worked, occurred at the end of a shift because of traffic or other reasons for delays in delivering medicine or for those couriers whose assigned shifts otherwise spanned more than 40 hours in a workweek. Alto provided its couriers with a Timekeeping Policy, which stated that they would be

paid in accordance with the FLSA and had to keep accurate records in order to properly calculate their pay. SAC ¶¶ 93-94; Charles Dec., Exh. B; Muhammad Dec. ¶ 14-15, Exh. B. The policy also states that supervisors review and approve time records before submitting them to payroll. Id. Plaintiffs state that they relied on the Timekeeping Policy to consider themselves employees. Muhammad Dec. ¶ 15; Wilson Dec. ¶ 15; Skinner Dec. ¶ 15. Alto employed dispatchers, area supervisors, pharmacy managers, and area managers.

SAC ¶ 96. Dispatchers assigned delivery routes and kept tabs on couriers during their shifts. SAC ¶¶ 96-97. According to Plaintiffs, dispatchers had the power to discipline and terminate couriers and would threaten termination if a courier did not comply with company rules. SAC ¶¶ 98-99.

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