Sagar v. Fiorenza

31 Mass. L. Rptr. 589
Massachusetts Superior Court·Decided January 18, 2014·No. No. MICV201204081F·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

Curran, Dennis J., J.

Yogendra Sagar alleges that he, along with a class of all taxi drivers who serviced customers identified through the dispatch service Cambridge Radio Dispatch, Inc., have been wrongly classified since October 2009 as independent contractors when in fact they were employees.1 He claims that this misclassification resulted in failure to pay minimum wages to the putative class in violation of G.L.c. 151, §§1, 7, failure to pay overtime to the putative class in violation of G.L.c. 151, §1A, and illegal deductions from the putative class’s wages in violation of G.L.c. 149, §148. He also brings a claim for unjust enrichment based on essentially the same allegations. Mr. Sagar brings these claims on behalf of himself and the putative class against Ambassador and its owner, George Fiorenza.

The parties have submitted cross motions for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, Mr. Sagar’s motion for summary judgment will be DENIED, and the defendants’ motion for summary judgment will be ALLOWED in part and DENIED in part.

BACKGROUND

The following facts are taken from the summary judgment record; unless otherwise noted, such facts are undisputed.

A. The Structure of the Taxi Industry in Cambridge

The city of Cambridge has issued 257 taxi medallions that permit the lawful operation of a taxi cab. The medallions are typically owned by corporations created for the purpose of holding title to them, and leased to other persons interested in operating taxis in Cambridge. These leaseholders may drive taxis themselves, and may also sub-lease the medallions to other drivers. The process of sub-leasing the medallions is termed “shifting out” the medallions, because the sub-leases are relatively short in duration, sometimes amounting to weekly “shifts.”

Leaseholders make lease payments to the medallion corporations. Sub-lessees make “shift payments” to the leaseholders. Medallion owners generally have no operational control over the actions of leaseholders, and leaseholders have no operational control over the actions of sub-lessees. There is no evidence that sub-lessees make shift payments to cab dispatch companies such as Ambassador.

B. The Parties

Ambassador is a Massachusetts corporation owned by Mr. Fiorenza. Ambassador contends, and Mr. Sagar denies, that it is engaged in the business of providing taxi cab dispatch services to approximately 120 taxis operating in Cambridge.2 Mr. Sagar contends, and Ambassador denies, that it is engaged in the business of providing taxi services to the public.3

Ambassador offers its dispatch services to medallion owners and leaseholders. Ambassador installs a GPS device, a radio, and a credit card reader in all taxis [590]*590that use its services. The GPS device directs drivers to the locations of passengers requesting taxi services. Ambassador charges subscription fees to the medallion owners or leaseholders for the use of its dispatch services. Those subscription fees are not paid by the drivers of the taxis like Mr. Sagar. Ambassador also charges a 10% processing fee for all corporate vouchers, credit card receipts, or coupons redeemed using its equipment or accounts. The processing fees are deducted from the payments made to taxi drivers, when redeemed through Ambassador.

Although not extensively developed in the summary judgment record or the parties’ briefs, there is some evidence that Ambassador maintains corporate customers who purchase taxi services directly from Ambassador. Ambassador issues corporate vouchers to those customers, who then call Ambassador to obtain taxi service, which then dispatches a taxi using its dispatch service. There is no evidence about how much of Ambassador’s business activities are devoted to providing service to corporate customers.4

Mr. Fiorenza owns and manages Ambassador, and likewise owns seventeen medallion corporations. Mr. Fiorenza’s medallion corporations lease the medallions to leaseholders on a year-to-year basis according to rates regulated by the city of Cambridge.

Mr. Sagar obtained his hackney license from Cambridge in September 2010. After being licensed, he worked for Checker Cab Company in December 2010, and drove a taxi using Ambassador’s dispatch services starting in January 2011. From January 2011 until January 2013, Mr. Sagar obtained work by filling in, on a temporary basis, for drivers that lease or sublease medallions from medallion corporations. After January 2013, he “made regular arrangements to drive the same cab,” suggesting he may have become a primary leaseholder of a medallion. Some, but not all, of Mr. Sagar’s temporary work involved driving taxis using Ambassador’s dispatch service.

C. The Relationships Between the Parties

Taxis using Ambassador’s dispatch service must be painted according to a uniform color scheme. Ambassador’s “dispatch service agreement” requires that drivers of taxis using its dispatch service maintain the interior and exterior appearance of their vehicles, and honor certain forms of payment, including the corporate vouchers issued to customers of Ambassador.

However, Ambassador, Mr. Fiorenza, and the medallion corporations exercise no control over the shifting out of the medallions.5 They also exercise no control over the manner in which the taxis are driven. They assign neither a particular place, time, nor shift for taxi drivers to work.6 Taxi drivers may work under one or more leaseholders of medallions at a time, whether or not they use Ambassador’s dispatch services.

Taxi drivers using Ambassador’s services are not required to agree to pick up passengers identified through its GPS device.7 Taxi drivers using Ambassador’s services remain free to pick up passengers through other means, such as people waiting at taxi stands or who hail them from the street, who were not identified using its GPS device.

Taxi drivers operating taxis that use Ambassador’s dispatch service retain all cash fares and tips received from passengers, but pay the 10% processing fee to Ambassador when redeeming corporate vouchers, credit card receipts, or its coupons.

DISCUSSION

The familiar standard governing motions for summary judgment provides that summary judgment shall be granted forthwith where there is no genuine dispute of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Mass.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Cassesso v. Comm’rofCorr., 390 Mass. 419, 423 (1983). In assessing the record on a motion for summary judgment, all reasonable inferences are drawn in favor of the nonmoving party. Terra Nova v. Fray-Witzer, 449 Mass. 406, 411 (2007). However, “(mjere allegations or conclusory assertions are insufficient to avoid summary judgment.” Schwartz v. Travelers Indem. Co., 50 Mass.App.Ct. 672, 676 n.6 (2011).

Both motions for summary judgment turn on the question of whether or not the putative class was misclassified as independent contractors. That issue is governed by G.L.c. 149, §148B, which provides that “an individual providing any service . . . shall be considered an employee” if they fit certain criteria provided in the statute.

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Sagar v. Fiorenza, 31 Mass. L. Rptr. 589 (Mass. Ct. App. 2014).

31 Mass. L. Rptr. 589 (Sagar v. Fiorenza) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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