Paguirigan v. Prompt Nursing Emp't Agency LLC

286 F. Supp. 3d 430
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedDecember 20, 2017
DocketNo. 17–cv–1302 (NG) (JO)
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 286 F. Supp. 3d 430 (Paguirigan v. Prompt Nursing Emp't Agency LLC) 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
Paguirigan v. Prompt Nursing Emp't Agency LLC, 286 F. Supp. 3d 430 (E.D.N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

GERSHON, United States District Judge:

*434Plaintiff Rose Ann Paguirigan brings claims, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated, for violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act ("TVPA"), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1589 et seq. ,1 and declaratory judgment against defendants Prompt Nursing Employment Agency LLC ("Prompt Nursing"), Sentosacare LLC ("Sentosacare"), Sentosa Nursing Recruitment Agency ("Sentosa Agency"), Benjamin Landa, Bent Philipson, Berish Rubenstein, Francis Luyan, Golden Gate Rehabilitation and Health Care Center LLC ("Golden Gate"), and Spring Creek Rehabilitation and Nursing Center ("Spring Creek"). Plaintiff also alleges breach of contract against Prompt Nursing, Rubenstein, Landa, and Philipson. All defendants now move under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) to dismiss all TVPA claims and the declaratory judgment claim for failure to state a claim. Defendants Rubenstein, Landa, and Philpson also move to dismiss the breach of contract claim for failure to state a claim. For the reasons set forth below, defendants' motion is denied in full.

I. Facts

The following facts are taken from the plaintiff's Complaint and are assumed to be true for purposes of deciding defendants' motion to dismiss.2

Plaintiff is a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines who, beginning in 2006, was recruited by defendants Sentosa Agency, Luyun, and Philipson to work for a nursing home owned and operated by the defendants in New York. Compl. at ¶¶ 6, 19. In April 2015, plaintiff signed an employment contract to work for defendant Golden Gate, a nursing home owned and operated by the defendants in New York. Id. at ¶ 20. The contract was signed by Landa on behalf of Golden Gate, without identifying his role at Golden Gate. Id. It includes a provision that allows the contract to be assigned to another nursing home or staffing agency "owned by the defendants." Id. at ¶ 21. According to *435plaintiff, the contract was assigned to defendant Prompt Nursing. Id.

The defendants' standard employment contract provides that foreign nurses pay a $25,000 contract termination fee-a fee which Plaintiffs refer to as the "Indentured Servitude Penalty"-if they leave their jobs before the end of the contract term. Id. at ¶ 46. Additionally, nurses were required to execute a $25,000 confession of judgment in favor of their employer as a condition of employment before leaving the Philippines. Id. at ¶ 47. Both the contract termination fee and confession of judgment were designed to coerce the nurses into continuing their employment. Id. at ¶ 48. These provisions appear in Section VII(4) of the plaintiff's employment contract. In May 2010, the New York State Supreme Court, Nassau County, held that the contract termination fee was unenforceable on the grounds that the parties (Prompt Nursing and Golden Gate were among the plaintiffs and several nurses, not including the plaintiff in the instant case, were defendants) had unequal bargaining power, and contract damages could be easily proven at trial. Id. at ¶ 51; SentosaCare LLC v. Anilao , Index No. 6079/2006 at *6.

Since the SentosaCare LLC decision, defendants have continued to require foreign nurses to execute the $25,000 confession of judgment and have continued to include the unenforceable $25,000 termination fee in their employment contracts. Id. at ¶ 55-56. Moreover, defendants have continued to threaten plaintiff and other foreign nurses with enforcement of the contract termination fee and have in fact commenced lawsuits against foreign nurses to enforce both the termination fee and the confession of judgment. Id. at ¶¶ 57-58, 68. On March 27, 2016, defendant Prompt Nursing commenced a lawsuit against plaintiff to enforce the $25,000 termination fee and confession of judgment. Id. at ¶ 59. This lawsuit also seeks $250,000 in damages for tortious interference with contract and prospective business relations. Id. Defendant Prompt Nursing threatened to commence and actually did commence similar lawsuits against other foreign nurses despite having no good faith basis to believe that the $25,000 fee was enforceable and despite having no evidence to support its allegations of tortious interference. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
286 F. Supp. 3d 430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/paguirigan-v-prompt-nursing-empt-agency-llc-nyed-2017.