Ogelton v. The City of New York

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedDecember 13, 2024
Docket1:21-cv-06889
StatusUnknown

This text of Ogelton v. The City of New York (Ogelton v. The City of New York) 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
Ogelton v. The City of New York, (S.D.N.Y. 2024).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

CALWAYNE OGLETON,

Plaintiff, ORDER

-v- 21 Civ. 6889 (PGG) (OTW)

THE CITY OF NEW YORK and NYC DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS, Defendants.

PAUL G. GARDEPHE, U.S.D.J.: In this action, Plaintiff Calwayne Ogleton – a former supervisor at the New York City Department of Buildings (the “Buildings Department”) – moves for leave to file an amended complaint asserting a claim against Defendants City of New York (the “City”) and the Buildings Department under the Fair Labor Standards Act (the “FLSA”) for unpaid overtime wages. (Dkt. No. 60) The Complaint was filed on August 16, 2021, and asserts claims on behalf of Ogleton, Richard Whint – a supervising inspector at the Buildings Department – and putative class members against the City, the Buildings Department, and Buildings Department Commissioner Melanie E. La Rocca for violations of the FLSA, the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”), the New York State Human Rights Law (the “NYSHRL”), and the New York City Human Rights Law (the “NYCHRL”). (Cmplt. (Dkt. No. 1) ¶¶ 38, 52, 63, 67, 72, 78, 84, 90) On January 20, 2022, Defendants moved to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (Dkt. No. 40) On March 1, 2022, this Court referred Defendants’ motion to Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang for a Report and Recommendation (“R&R”). (Dkt. No. 45) On January 26, 2023, Judge Wang issued an order to show cause directing Whint to demonstrate why his claims should not be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. (Show Cause Order (Dkt. No. 53)) In a February 10, 2023 letter, Plaintiffs informed Judge Wang that they did “not oppose a dismissal of [Whint’s] claims by the District Court on the basis

of [lack of] subject matter jurisdiction . . . . [and] therefore accede[d] to a dismissal [of Whint’s claims] under [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure] 41(a)(1)(2).” (Feb. 10, 2023 Pltf. Ltr. (Dkt. No. 54) Accordingly, in a February 17, 2023 R&R, Judge Wang “recommend[ed] that Plaintiff Whint be dismissed from the action.” (Dkt. No. 55 at 1-2)1 That same day – in a second R&R – Judge Wang recommended that Plaintiff Ogleton’s claims be dismissed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). (Dkt. No. 56) In a March 31, 2023 order, this Court adopted Judge Wang’s recommendations that Whint’s claims be dismissed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(2), and that Ogleton’s claims be dismissed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). (Dkt. No. 59) This Court granted Plaintiff Ogleton leave to move to amend “claims under the FLSA only,” and directed him to file a

proposed Amended Complaint with any such motion. (Id. at 18) On April 14, 2023, Ogleton moved for leave to file an amended complaint. (Dkt. No. 60) The proposed Amended Complaint asserts an FLSA claim against the City and the Buildings Department (“Defendants”). (Prop. Am. Cmplt. (Dkt. No. 60-1) ¶¶ 1, 6-7) Defendants filed their opposition to Ogleton’s motion to amend on April 25, 2023. (Dkt. No. 61) On August 3, 2023, this Court referred the motion to amend to Judge Wang for an R&R. (Dkt. No. 62) On January 26, 2024, Judge Wang issued an R&R recommending that

1 The page numbers of documents referenced in this Order correspond to the page numbers designated by this District’s Electronic Case Files (“ECF”) system. Ogleton be granted leave to file an amended complaint raising an FLSA claim against the City, but not the Buildings Department. (Dkt. No. 63) Neither side has objected to the R&R. For the reasons set forth below, the R&R will be adopted in part. Plaintiff will be granted leave to file an amended complaint raising an FLSA claim against the City for unpaid

overtime wages, but only with respect to claims arising on or after August 16, 2019. BACKGROUND I. THE PROPOSED AMENDED COMPLAINT According to the proposed Amended Complaint, the City and the Buildings Department hired Plaintiff Ogleton in September 2015 to work as an inspector. In February 2019, he was promoted to supervisor. (Prop. Am. Cmplt. (Dkt. No. 60-1) ¶¶ 10-11) Ogleton goes on to allege that Defendants, through a “policy of timeshaving,” did not pay him and other supervisors for all hours they worked and/or did not pay them the required time-and-a-half rate for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week: Throughout his employment as a Supervisor, Defendants paid Plaintiff OGLETON $35.41 per hour. Plaintiff and other Supervisors would clock in and work, then clock out after finishing their work each day. However, due to a policy of timeshaving, Defendants would not pay Plaintiff OGLETON and other Supervisors for all of the hours that they worked, resulting in an average of one (1) unpaid hour per day, or five (5) unpaid overtime hours per week. Every week, from in or about February 2019 until in or about December 2020, Plaintiff OGLETON worked forty-five (45) hours per week, yet was paid for only forty (40) hours per week, due to the Defendants’ policy of timeshaving. Plaintiff OGLETON was not paid for five (5) hours of overtime work per week, every week, during this period. Defendants knowingly and willfully operated their business with a policy of not paying the FLSA overtime rate to Plaintiff OGLETON for all hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week by forcing them to misreport their hours. (Id. ¶¶ 12-14) “In or about December[] 2020, Plaintiff OGLETON announced to his supervisors that he no longer intended to cooperate with Defendants’ timeshaving policy.” (Id. ¶ 15) DISCUSSION I. LEGAL STANDARDS A. Review of a Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation A district court reviewing a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation “may

accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C). “‘The district judge evaluating a magistrate judge’s recommendation may adopt those portions of the recommendation, without further review, where no specific objection is made, as long as they are not clearly erroneous.’” Gilmore v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., No. 09 Civ. 6241 (RMB) (FM), 2011 WL 611826, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 18, 2011) (quoting Chimarev v. TD Waterhouse Inv. Servs., Inc., 280 F. Supp. 2d 208, 212 (S.D.N.Y. 2003)). A decision is “clearly erroneous” when, “upon review of the entire record, [the court is] left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” United States v. Snow, 462 F.3d 55, 72 (2d Cir. 2006) (quotation marks and citation omitted).

B. Rule 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss “To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). Under this standard, a plaintiff is required only to set forth a “short and plain statement of the claim,” Fed. R. Civ. P.

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Ogelton v. The City of New York, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ogelton-v-the-city-of-new-york-nysd-2024.