Sharma v. Burberry Ltd.

52 F. Supp. 3d 443, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124382, 2014 WL 4385426
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 4, 2014
DocketNo. 12-6356 (LDW)(AKT)
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 52 F. Supp. 3d 443 (Sharma v. Burberry Ltd.) 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
Sharma v. Burberry Ltd., 52 F. Supp. 3d 443, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124382, 2014 WL 4385426 (E.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

A. KATHLEEN TOMLINSON, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiffs Poonam Sharma (“Sharma”), Brian Roach (“Roach”), Ronnel Jarin (“Jarin”), and Nikita Simon (“Simon”) (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) bring this action on behalf of themselves and all similarly situated persons seeking unpaid overtime compensation from Defendant Burberry Limited a/k/a Burberrys Limited (“Defendant” or “Burberry”), pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (“FLSA”), as amended, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq. and the New York Labor Law.

Plaintiffs have moved for conditional certification as a collective action and for notice of pendency to potential collective action members, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) (“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Conditional Certification”). DE 46. Plaintiffs have also filed two motions to compel documents, including a representative sample of nationwide employee data. DE 43, 64. Defendant has moved to strike portions of Plaintiffs’ evidence submitted in support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Conditional Certification (“Defendant’s Motion to Strike”) [DE 51] and has filed two motions to supplement the record [DE 62, 66]. Plaintiffs have also moved to supplement the record. DE 75. Based on the Court’s review of the parties’ submissions as well as the applicable case law: (1) Plaintiffs’ Motion for Conditional Certification is hereby GRANTED in part and DENIED in part; (2) Defendant’s Motion to Strike is DENIED; (3) Plaintiffs’ and Defendant’s motions to supplement the record are GRANTED; and (4) Plaintiffs’ motions to compel are GRANTED in part and DENIED in part to the extent set forth below.

I. Background

A. Plaintiffs’ Motion for Conditional Certification

The following alleged facts are taken from the Amended Complaint filed in this case on April 15, 2013 [DE 16] and the declarations submitted by the four named Plaintiffs and two opt-in Plaintiffs—including the declaration of Danny Kozak (“Ko-zak”), a former manager at Burberry—in support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Conditional Certification [DE 46] and in support of Plaintiffs’ letter motion to supplement the record [DE 75]. See “Kozak Deck”; “Sharma Deck”; “Roach Deck”; “Jarin Deck”; “Simon Deck”; “Sioson Deck”; and “Simms Deck,” attached as Exs. 1-6 to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Conditional Certification [DE 46] and Ex. 1 to Plaintiffs’ letter motion to supplement the record [DE 75].

Burberry is an international high-end retail fashion enterprise, operating approximately 65 retail store establishments in the United States. Kozak Deck ¶ 1. Burberry employs Sales Associates (“SAs”) in each store to attend to retail customers and make sales of merchandise. Id. ¶ 3. [446]*446An SA is a non-exempt position which is paid an hourly rate plus a commission based on sales of merchandise. Id. All of the Plaintiffs worked as SAs for Burberry. Am. Compl. ¶ 2. Plaintiff Sharma was employed at Burberry’s Manhasset, New York store from May 2010 to January 2012. Sharma Deck ¶¶ 2-3. Plaintiff Roach was employed at Burberry’s Man-hasset, New York store from July 2011 to June 2012. Roach Deck ¶¶2-3. Plaintiff Jarin was employed at Burberry’s Man-hasset, New York store from October 2011 to October 2012. Jarin Deck ¶¶ 2-3. Plaintiff Simon was employed at Burberry’s Manhasset, New York store from August 2011 to May 2012. Simon Deck ¶¶ 2-3. Plaintiff Sioson was employed at Burberry’s Short Hills, New Jersey and Man-hasset, New York stores from January 2009 to February 2012. Sioson Deck ¶¶ 2-3. Plaintiff Damien Dane Simms was employed at Burberry’s Manhasset, New York and Roosevelt Field Mall, New York stores from June 2008 to July 2012. Simms Deck ¶¶ 2-3.

1. Plaintiffs’ Declarations

Plaintiffs allege that they regularly worked more than 40 hours per week without being paid for overtime. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 36-37. Specifically, Plaintiffs allege that they were scheduled to work and were paid for 39 or 40 hours per week, but that they actually worked many more hours for which they were not compensated.1 Sharma Deck ¶¶ 4-5; Roach Deck ¶¶ 4-5; Jarin Deck ¶¶ 4-5; Simon Deck ¶¶ 4-5; Sioson Deck ¶¶ 4-5; Simms Deck ¶ 6-7. According to Plaintiffs, they were required to work before and after their scheduled shifts, through meal periods, and extra hours during the holidays. Sharma Deck ¶ 5; Roach Deck ¶ 5; Jarin Deck ¶ 5; Simon Deck ¶ 5; Sioson Deck ¶ 6; Simms Deck ¶ 7. Working extra unpaid time was primarily due to (1) Burberry’s practice of scheduling meetings before the start of the workday; (2) Burberry’s strong emphasis on a high level of customer service; (3) understaffing at the stores; (4) high numbers of customers and heavy workload; (5) aggressive sales and related goals; and (6) Burberry’s closing policies which required SAs to do a lot of work in the evening, after the store closed. Shar-ma Deck ¶ 6; Roach Deck ¶ 6; Jarin Deck ¶ 6; Simon Deck ¶ 6; Sioson Deck ¶ 7. Notwithstanding Plaintiffs’ actual hours worked, Burberry’s policy was not to pay overtime to its SAs. Sharma Deck ¶¶ 10-11; Roach Deck ¶¶ 9-10; Jarin Deck ¶¶ 9-10; Simon Deck ¶¶ 9-11; Sioson Deck ¶¶ 0-10; Simms Deck ¶ 8-9. Instead, Burberry’s policy required SAs to record scheduled hours only (and not actual hours worked) in order to avoid showing overtime on the weekly time sheets. Sharma Deck ¶ 9; Roach Deck ¶ 5; Jarin Deck ¶ 9; Simon Deck ¶ 9; Sioson Deck ¶ 9; Simms Deck ¶¶ 8-9. Thus, the weekly timesheets were inaccurate because they did not include the time SAs actually worked before and after scheduled shifts or during an unpaid lunch break. Sharma Deck ¶ 8; Roach Deck ¶ 8; Jarin Deck ¶ 8; Simon Deck ¶ 8; Sioson Deck ¶ 9; Simms Deck ¶ 8.

According to Plaintiffs, Burberry’s managers, including Kozak, a General Manager (“GM”), and “Christine” and “Raphael,” managers at the Manhasset store, told the SAs that it was Burberry’s policy not to pay overtime to its SAs. Sharma Deck ¶ 10; Jarin Deck ¶ 23; Simon Deck ¶ 10; Sioson Deck ¶ 26; Simms Dec. ¶ 4. In addition, according to opt-in Plaintiff Simms, who worked at the Manhasset and Roosevelt Field Mall locations, GMs Danny Kozak, Jamie Hollis and Eric Ali often [447]*447told the SAs during meetings that overtime pay was not an option (except for sometimes during the holidays) and that overtime was .not within Burberry’s approved budget. Simms Decl. ¶ 20. Lastly, Plaintiffs claim that Regional Manager Barbara Hill personally observed SAs working off-the-clock after their shifts and it was “obvious” to her they were not being paid for off-the-clock time. Sharma Decl. ¶ 23; Simon Decl. ¶ 21.

Plaintiffs all claim that Burberry’s pay practices were “widespread” and were the same at other Burberry stores as well. Plaintiffs Sharma, Jarin, Simon and Sioson claim they know the practice to be widespread “from what [they] w[ere] told by other Sales Associates.” Sharma Decl. ¶ 27; Jarin Decl. ¶ 27; Simon Decl. ¶ 26; Sioson Decl. ¶ 26. Plaintiff Roach states that the practices were widespread but proffers no explanation as to how he knows this. Roach Decl. ¶22. Plaintiffs Jarin and Simon, who worked at the Man-hasset store, state that they spoke to SAs at the Roosevelt Field Mall store who told them that the SAs there routinely worked extra hours for which they were not paid. Jarin Decl. ¶ 25; Simon Decl. ¶ 27.

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Bluebook (online)
52 F. Supp. 3d 443, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124382, 2014 WL 4385426, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sharma-v-burberry-ltd-nyed-2014.