Salone v. Cushman & Wakefield U.S., Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedJanuary 13, 2022
Docket4:21-cv-01151
StatusUnknown

This text of Salone v. Cushman & Wakefield U.S., Inc. (Salone v. Cushman & Wakefield U.S., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Salone v. Cushman & Wakefield U.S., Inc., (E.D. Mo. 2022).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI EASTERN DIVISION

GARY SALONE, on behalf of himself ) and others similarly situated, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 4:21 CV 1151 RWS ) CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD ) U.S., INC., et al., ) ) Defendants. )

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER This case is before me on Plaintiff Gary Salone’s motion for conditional class certification and court-supervised notice to potential opt-in plaintiffs pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). ECF No. 44 (“Pl.’s Mot.”). Defendants Cushman & Wakefield U.S., Inc. and Cushman & Wakefield, Inc. (collectively, “C&W”) oppose conditional certification. C&W also request that, if I find conditional certification is appropriate, I do not adopt Salone’s proposed notice to potential opt-in plaintiffs and instead allow the parties to submit a joint proposed notice form. For the reasons discussed below, Salone’s motion will be granted in part and denied in part. BACKGROUND C&W provide facility maintenance, cleaning, and related services for businesses and organizations throughout the United States. ECF No. 1 (“Compl.”) at ¶ 13. From 2016 to 2018, Salone worked for C&W as a maintenance technician, also referred to as a facilities technician, in Ohio. Id. at ¶ 5. C&W’s maintenance

technicians are hourly non-exempt employees. Id. While employed by C&W, Salone regularly worked forty or more hours in a workweek. Id. at ¶ 62. As alleged in Salone’s complaint, C&W have a companywide policy that requires maintenance employees1 to take unpaid meal breaks. Id. at ¶ 28. Salone

alleges that C&W apply these unpaid meal breaks by (a) automatically deducting time from maintenance employees’ compensable hours; (b) requiring maintenance employees to clock in and out for meal breaks; or (c) requiring maintenance

employees to submit their hours into a computer, then manually deducting time. Id. Salone alleges further that C&W apply these meal-break deductions even when meal breaks were not taken or were interrupted by work duties. Id.

According to Salone, he and other maintenance employees were often unable to take full uninterrupted meal breaks because C&W require maintenance employees to prioritize work duties over meal breaks. Id. at ¶¶ 29–30. Salone also alleges that there was no formal process or procedure for maintenance employees to report a

1 In his proposed class definition, Salone refers to “maintenance employees” rather than “maintenance technicians.” Although Salone does not define “maintenance employees,” it is clear that he intends for the term to encompass maintenance technicians as well as other positions, including, but not limited to, building maintenance technicians; building operating engineers; engineers; facilities technicians; HVAC technicians; industrial technicians; mobile engineers; mobile maintenance technicians; and operating engineers. See ECF Nos. 53 (“Pl.’s Reply”) at pp. 3–6; 72 (“Pl.’s Supplemental Br.”) at p. 7; 74 (“Pl.’s Resp.”) at pp. 14–15. missed meal break or have a meal-break deduction overridden. Id. at ¶ 31. Salone claims that, as a result of these policies and practices, C&W’s maintenance

employees were not fully compensated for all overtime work. Id. at ¶ 42. On January 29, 2021, Salone filed this lawsuit on behalf of himself and other similarly situated employees, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act of

1938, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201, et seq. (“FLSA”) and Ohio’s wage laws. Salone contends that C&W have failed to properly pay their maintenance employees overtime wages and failed to maintain accurate records. Since the filing of this lawsuit, seven individuals have filed consent forms to join as opt-in plaintiffs. ECF Nos. 1-2

(Spencer Jones & Todd Bostwick); 6-1 (Jeffrey Wolberd); 48-1 (Alexandro Roldan & Carl Bueckert); 49-1 (Eric Barner & Hubert Johnson Jr.). Salone now seeks conditional class certification and court-supervised notice to potential opt-in

plaintiffs pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). LEGAL STANDARD Section 7 of the FLSA requires employers to pay non-exempt employees one and one-half times their regular hourly wage for hours worked in excess of forty in

a workweek. 29 U.S.C. § 207. A collective action to recover damages under the FLSA may be maintained by “any one or more employees for and [on] behalf of himself or themselves and other employees similarly situated.” § 216(b). To join a

collective action, similarly situated employees must “opt-in” by providing their consent in writing. Id. District courts have discretion in “appropriate cases” to facilitate the opt-in process by conditionally certifying a class and authorizing court-

supervised notice to potential opt-in plaintiffs. See Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. v. Sperling, 493 U.S. 165, 169 (1989). The FLSA does not define “similarly situated.” Huang v. Gateway Hotel

Holdings, 248 F.R.D. 225, 227 (E.D. Mo. 2008). Nor has the Eighth Circuit decided on a standard to use in determining “whether potential opt-in plaintiffs are ‘similarly situated’ under § 216(b).” Beasely v. GC Servs. LP, 270 F.R.D. 442, 444 (E.D. Mo. 2010). However, district courts in the Eighth Circuit have adopted a two-step

analysis to determine whether employees are “similarly situated” for purposes of a collective action. See, e.g., Littlefield v. Dealer Warranty Servs., LLC, 679 F.Supp.2d 1014, 1016 (E.D. Mo. 2010).

At the first step, the notice stage, the plaintiff seeks “early conditional class certification.” Id. The plaintiff’s burden at this stage is not onerous. Id. at 1017. The plaintiff need only provide “substantial allegations that the putative class members were together the victims of a single decision, policy or plan.” Id. at 1016.

This can be shown “through the use of affidavits, supported by admissible evidence.” Id. The plaintiff may not meet this burden by providing “unsupported assertions of additional plaintiffs and widespread FLSA violations.” Id. If the plaintiff satisfies his initial burden, the district court “conditionally certifies the class, and putative class members are given notice and the opportunity to opt-in.” Id.

At the second step, the merits stage, the defendant typically moves to decertify the class. Id. This generally occurs after the close of discovery or “where discovery is largely complete and the matter is ready for trial.” Huang, 248 F.R.D. at 227. A

motion for decertification is delayed until the district court is able to determine whether the putative class members are, in fact, similarly situated. Id. Even at the merits stage, however, the requirement that class members be similarly situated does not mean that they need to be “identically situated.” Id.

DISCUSSION This case is before me at the notice stage. Salone requests that I conditionally certify the following class:

All current and former hourly, non-exempt maintenance employees of any Cushman & Wakefield entity who worked at least forty (40) hours in any workweek and had a meal deduction applied to their compensable hours worked during the three (3) years preceding the filing of this Motion and continuing through the final disposition of this case.

Pl.’s Mot. at p. 1. Salone also requests that I implement a procedure whereby court- supervised notice of FLSA claims is sent by United States mail and e-mail to putative class members. Id.

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Related

Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. v. Sperling
493 U.S. 165 (Supreme Court, 1990)
Falcon v. Starbucks Corp.
580 F. Supp. 2d 528 (S.D. Texas, 2008)
Littlefield v. Dealer Warranty Services, LLC
679 F. Supp. 2d 1014 (E.D. Missouri, 2010)
Hussein v. Capital Building Services Group, Inc.
152 F. Supp. 3d 1182 (D. Minnesota, 2015)
Huang v. Gateway Hotel Holdings
248 F.R.D. 225 (E.D. Missouri, 2008)
Beasely v. GC Services LP
270 F.R.D. 442 (E.D. Missouri, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
Salone v. Cushman & Wakefield U.S., Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/salone-v-cushman-wakefield-us-inc-moed-2022.