Sandoz v. Cingular Wireless LLC

108 F. Supp. 3d 446, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71245, 2015 WL 3540806
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Louisiana
DecidedJune 2, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 6:07CV1308
StatusPublished

This text of 108 F. Supp. 3d 446 (Sandoz v. Cingular Wireless LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sandoz v. Cingular Wireless LLC, 108 F. Supp. 3d 446, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71245, 2015 WL 3540806 (W.D. La. 2015).

Opinion

[448]*448 JUDGMENT

REBECCA F. DOHERTY, District Judge.

This matter was referred to United States Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Hanna for report and recommendation. After an independent review of the record, and considering the objections lodged, this Court concludes that the Magistrate Judge’s report and recommendation is correct and adopts the findings and conclusions therein as its own. Accordingly,

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the Renewed Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject-Matter Jurisdiction [Rec. Doc. 222] is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED, that the claims of Courtney Sandoz are hereby DISMISSED.

Report and Recommendation

PATRICK J. HANNA, United States Magistrate Judge.

Before the undersigned, on referral from the district judge for report and recommendation, is the defense Renewed Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject-Matter Jurisdiction [Rec. Doc. 222], For the reasons set out herein, it is the recommendation of the undersigned that the motion be GRANTED.

Background:

The factual and procedural history of this case is well-recited in the record of this court and the record of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.1 The matter was instituted as a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 206 and § 216, for the defendants’ alleged failure to timely pay minimum wages for hours worked. Plaintiff Courtney San-doz was a part-time retail sales consultant [RSC] for Cingular in Lafayette, Louisiana, from October 10, 2004 until her resignation on October 5, 2005. She alleges she was paid for a minimum of 19 hours per week at a rate of pay in excess of the minimum wage, and she regularly worked extra hours, referenced as “exception time.” She asserts that although exception time was entered on an employee time sheet in the scheduled hours section, the defendants’ policy was to not pay any wages for exception time in the next pay check if the store manager failed to verify the hours worked in a separate time entry report. [Rec. 1-1, ¶ 7]. Sandoz alleges she was paid in arrears for her exception time hours worked on several occasions, and consequently, she was paid an amount below the minimum wage for the actual hours worked during pay periods when her exception time was not paid concurrently with her payment for her regular 19 hours.

Sandoz filed this action on April 23, 2007, in the 15th Judicial District Court, Lafayette Parish, Louisiana; the matter was removed to this Court in August, 2007. On September 6, -2007, the defendants served Sandoz with an Offer of Judgment pursuant to Rule 68. [Rec. Doc. 17-19], The offer provided for a payment of $1,000.00, plus additional amounts for reasonable attorneys fees to be determined by the court. The offer was not accepted, and in the same month Sandoz moved to strike the offer, urging that an offer made only to the class representative cannot form the basis for the imposition of costs pursuant to Rule 68. [Rec. Docs. 7, 9], Sandoz did not argue the sufficiency of the amount offered as to her individual claim.

On October 9, 2007, the defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subjects Matter Jurisdiction [Rec., Doc. 16], asserting that the Offer of Judgment to Sandoz fully satisfied her demand as the sole individual in the lawsuit and accordingly the Offer of Judgment resolved any case or [449]*449controversy before the court, depriving the court of subject-matter jurisdiction over her claim. [Rec. Doc. 17]. The motion was opposed by Sandoz [Rec. Docs. 20, 30], however she did not argue against the sufficiency of the offer amount or otherwise challenge the detailed supporting pay records supplied with the motion. On May 13, 2008, the court denied the plaintiffs Motion to Strike, finding that since an offer of judgment is not a “pleading” filed into the record unless accepted, “there is nothing for the Court to strike.” [Rec. Doc. 28, p. 4]. In that Memorandum Ruling, which also addressed the defendants’ Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subjects Matter Jurisdiction, the district court noted that

Plaintiff does not argue defendant’s offer is insufficient to satisfy her individual demand; rather, she argues the offer is insufficient to satisfy the damages suffered by the putative class, and .any offer of judgment is premature until the issue of class certification is addressed by the Court. [Rec. Doc. 28, p. 2].

The district court denied the defendants’ original Motion to Dismiss, finding that to allow the defendants to “pick off” the plaintiff at such an early stage would thwart the purposes of collective actions. [Rec. Doc. 28, p. 13]. On June 3, 2008, the defendants filed a Motion to Certify the Court’s Order for Interlocutory Appeal and to Stay Proceedings. [Rec. Doc. 31]. Citing to the district court’s determination that the law was unclear regarding the defense argument that the offer of judgment was sufficient to moot the plaintiff’s claims, and arguing that the mootness issue represents controlling questions of the law underlying subject-matter jurisdiction, and that a determination on appeal of the jurisdictional issue would lead to an immediate termination of the lawsuit, the defendants requested the certification pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). The district court agreed and certified the matter for interlocutory appeal. [Rec. Doc. 41],

Also in June, 2008, Sandoz sought conditional class certification, for leave to notify prospective class members of the pendency of the. action, and proposed a form for • Notice to prospective class members. [Rec. Doc. 34].

On December 23, 2008, in considering the case on interlocutory appeal, the Fifth Circuit dealt with “the difficult question of when an employer can moot a purported collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219, by paying an employee’s claim in full.” Sandoz v. Cingular Wireless LLC, 553 F.3d 913, 914 (5th Cir.2008). The circuit court generally agreed with the concerns of the district court that a ruling allowing a defendant to “pick off’ a named plaintiffs FLSA claim before she has a chance to certify the collective action would obviate one purpose of the collective action provision. However, the circuit court cited the long-discussed differences between Rule 23 class actions and § 216(b) collective actions to find that under the provisions of § 216(b) and the cases construing the provisions:

Sandoz cannot represent any other employees until they affirmatively opt in to the collective action. This means that when Cingular made its offer of judgment, Sandoz represented only herself, and the offer of judgment fully satisfied her individual claims. If our analysis stopped there, Sandoz’s case would be moot. Sandoz, 553 F.3d at 919.

After carefully considering the unique facts of the case, the Fifth Circuit vacated the district court’s denial of the defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and remanded the matter for consideration of the timeliness and, if necessary, the merits of Sandoz’s motion [450]*450to certify. Explaining its decision, the circuit court noted:

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Bluebook (online)
108 F. Supp. 3d 446, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71245, 2015 WL 3540806, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sandoz-v-cingular-wireless-llc-lawd-2015.