Ricks v. Long Island Health Network, Inc. et al
Filing
224
MEMORANDUM & ORDER - Presently before the Court is the mandate of the Second Circuit affirming in part and vacating and remanding in part this Court's prior orders dismissing Plaintiffs' Second and Fourth Amended Complaints. This Order i s in response to the Circuit's mandate. For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs' NYLL gap-time claims against Defendants CHS, Mercy Medical Center, New Island Hospital a/k/a St. Joseph Hospital, St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center, St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, St. Francis Hospital, Our Lady of Consolation Geriatric Care Center, Nursing Sisters Home Care d/b/a Catholic Home Care, and James Harden are again DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. The Clerk of the Court is directed to terminate the letter motion at Docket Entry 222 as MOOT and to mark this matter CLOSED. So Ordered by Judge Joanna Seybert on 3/29/2013. C/ECF (Valle, Christine)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
---------------------------------------X
PATRICIA WOLMAN, KELLY IWASIUK, and
DENNIS LUNDY, on behalf of themselves
and all other employees similarly
situated,
Plaintiffs,
-against-
MEMORANDUM & ORDER
10-CV-1326(JS)(ETB)
CATHOLIC HEALTH SYSTEM OF LONG ISLAND,
INC. d/b/a CATHOLIC HEALTH SERVICES
OF LONG ISLAND, GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL
MEDICAL CENTER, MERCY MEDICAL CENTER,
NEW ISLAND HOSPITAL a/k/a ST. JOSEPH
HOSPITAL, ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA MEDICAL
CENTER, ST. CHARLES HOSPITAL AND
REHABILITATION CENTER, ST. FRANCIS
HOSPITAL, ROSLYN, NEW YORK, OUR LADY OF
CONSOLATION GERIATRIC CARE CENTER,
NURSING SISTERS HOME CARE d/b/a CATHOLIC
HOME CARE, and JAMES HARDEN,
Defendants.
---------------------------------------X
APPEARANCES
For Plaintiffs:
James Nelson Thomas, Esq.
Jessica Lynne Witenko, Esq.
Michael J. Lingle, Esq.
Peter John Glennon, Esq.
Justin Michael Cordello, Esq.
Thomas & Solomon LLP
693 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607
For Defendants:
James E. McGrath, III, Esq.
Adriana Stefanie Kosovych, Esq.
Daniel F. Murphy, Esq.
Mark A. Hernandez, Esq.
Mary Ellen Donnelly, Esq.
Randi Brooke Feldheim, Esq.
Putnam, Twombly, Hall & Hirson LLP
521 Fifth Avenue, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10175
Joseph A. Carello, Esq.
Stephen Jones, Esq.
Todd R. Shinaman, Esq.
Nixon Peabody LLP
1300 Clinton Square
Rochester, NY 14604
SEYBERT, District Judge:
Presently
before
the
Court
is
the
mandate
of
the
Second Circuit affirming in part and vacating and remanding in
part this Court’s prior orders dismissing Plaintiffs’ Second and
Fourth Amended Complaints.
This Order is in response to the
Circuit’s mandate.
BACKGROUND
Plaintiffs Patricia Wolman (“Wolman”), Kelly Iwasiuk
(“Iwasiuk”),
and
“Plaintiffs”),
commenced
Defendants 1
Influenced
asserting
and
Dennis
this
claims
Corrupt
Lundy
(“Lundy,”
putative
for
class
violations
Organizations
Act
of
collectively
action
the
(“RICO”),
against
Racketeer
18
U.S.C.
§ 1961 et seq., for unpaid overtime and gap time under the Fair
Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 207, and the New York
1
Catholic Health System of Long Island, Inc. d/b/a Catholic
Health Services of Long Island (“CHS”), Good Samaritan Hospital
Medical Center (“Good Samaritan”), Mercy Medical Center, New
Island Hospital a/k/a St. Joseph Hospital, St. Catherine of
Siena Medical Center, St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation
Center, St. Francis Hospital, Roslyn, New York, Our Lady of
Consolation Geriatric Care Center, Nursing Sisters Home Care
d/b/a Catholic Home Care, and James Harden (“Harden,”
collectively “Defendants”).
2
Labor Law (“NYLL”), N.Y. LAB. LAW § 650 et seq., and for relief
under New York common law.
On December 30, 2010, the Court dismissed Plaintiffs’
Second Amended Complaint.
(Docket Entry 164.)
Plaintiffs’ RICO
claims and FLSA gap-time claims were dismissed with prejudice,
Plaintiffs’ FLSA overtime claims were dismissed with leave to
replead,
and
jurisdiction
the
over
Court
declined
Plaintiffs’
state
to
extend
supplemental
law
claims.
Wolman
v.
Catholic Health Sys. of Long Island, Inc., No. 10-CV-1326, 2010
WL 5491182 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 30, 2010).
On February 16, 2012, the Court dismissed Plaintiffs’
Fourth Amended Complaint.
Wolman v. Cath. Health Sys. of Long
Island, Inc., 853 F. Supp. 2d 290 (E.D.N.Y. 2012).
The Court
dismissed all of Plaintiffs’ FLSA and NYLL claims--both overtime
and gap time--against Defendants CHS, Mercy Medical Center, New
Island
Hospital
a/k/a
St.
Joseph
Hospital,
St.
Catherine
of
Siena Medical Center, St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation
Center, St. Francis Hospital, Our Lady of Consolation Geriatric
Care Center, Nursing Sisters Home Care d/b/a Catholic Home Care,
and
James
Complaint
Harden
with
failed
to
relationship,
as
prejudice
adequately
required
under
because
plead
both
the
the
an
Amended
employer-employee
FLSA
Wolman, 853 F. Supp. 2d at 296 n.4, 297-301.
Fourth
and
the
NYLL.
The Court also
dismissed Plaintiffs’ FLSA and NYLL overtime claims against the
3
remaining Defendant, Good Samaritan, for failing to adequately
plead that Plaintiffs’ were denied overtime compensation.
at 304-05.
Id.
The overtime claims of Plaintiffs Wolman and Iwasiuk
were dismissed with leave to replead, and the overtime claims of
Plaintiff Lundy were dismissed with prejudice.
declined
to
extend
supplemental
jurisdiction
Id.
over
The Court
Plaintiffs’
NYLL gap-time claims against Good Samaritan and their common law
claims against all Defendants.
Although
Plaintiffs
Id. at 302 n.9, 305.
Wolman
and
Iwasiuk
were
granted
leave to replead their FLSA overtime claims, their NYLL claims,
and their common law claims against Good Samaritan, they instead
filed a Notice of Appeal.
Circuit
affirmed
this
(Docket Entry 219.)
Court’s
dismissal
of
The Second
Plaintiffs’
FLSA
claims, their NYLL overtime claims, and their RICO claims.
The
Circuit vacated this Court’s dismissal of Plaintiffs’ NYLL gaptime
claims
with
prejudice
and
remanded
for
further
consideration, stating that “because New York law may recognize
Plaintiffs’ NYLL gap-time claims, the district court erred in
dismissing them with prejudice based solely on its dismissal of
Plaintiffs’ FLSA claims.”
Lundy v. Catholic Health Sys. of Long
Island Inc., --- F.3d ----, 2013 WL 765779, at *9 (2d Cir.
2013).
4
DISCUSSION
Prior to addressing the Circuit’s mandate, the Court
must clarify one thing.
The Court only dismissed the NYLL gap-
time claims against Defendants CHS, Mercy Medical Center, New
Island
Hospital
a/k/a
St.
Joseph
Hospital,
St.
Catherine
of
Siena Medical Center, St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation
Center, St. Francis Hospital, Our Lady of Consolation Geriatric
Care Center, Nursing Sisters Home Care d/b/a Catholic Home Care,
and James Harden with prejudice.
against
Defendant
prejudice.
Good
Plaintiffs’ gap-time claims
Samaritan
were
dismissed
without
Thus, the Circuit’s remand relates solely to the
gap-time claims against Defendants CHS, Mercy Medical Center,
New Island Hospital a/k/a St. Joseph Hospital, St. Catherine of
Siena Medical Center, St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation
Center, St. Francis Hospital, Our Lady of Consolation Geriatric
Care Center, Nursing Sisters Home Care d/b/a Catholic Home Care,
and James Harden.
Notwithstanding the Circuit’s mandate, the Court again
DISMISSES
against
Hospital
WITH
PREJUDICE
Defendants
a/k/a
St.
CHS,
Joseph
Plaintiff’s
Mercy
NYLL
Medical
Hospital,
St.
gap-time
Center,
New
Catherine
of
claims
Island
Siena
Medical Center, St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center,
St. Francis Hospital, Our Lady of Consolation Geriatric Care
Center, Nursing Sisters Home Care d/b/a Catholic Home Care, and
5
James
Harden.
The
NYLL,
like
the
FLSA,
only
applies
to
“employers” as defined by those statutes, see NYLL § 191, and
“[t]he standards by which a court determines whether an entity
is an ‘employer’ under the FLSA also govern that determination
under the New York labor law,” Hart v. Rick's Cabaret Int'l
Inc., No. 09-CV-3043, 2010 WL 5297221, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 20,
2010)
(citing
Ansoumana
v.
Gristede’s
Supp. 2d 184, 189 (S.D.N.Y. 2003)).
found
that
Plaintiffs
had
failed
plead
that
Defendants
CHS,
Mercy
Hospital
a/k/a
St.
Joseph
Operating
Co.,
255
F.
Accordingly, as the Court
(repeatedly)
Medical
Hospital,
St.
to
Center,
Catherine
adequately
New
Island
of
Siena
Medical Center, St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center,
St. Francis Hospital, Our Lady of Consolation Geriatric Care
Center, Nursing Sisters Home Care d/b/a Catholic Home Care, and
James Harden were their “employers” as defined by both the FLSA
and NYLL, dismissal on the merits of all FLSA and NYLL claims-both
overtime
warranted.
three
and
gap-time--against
those
defendants
was
Further, as the Court had already given Plaintiffs
attempts
determination
to
that
correct
leave
to
this
file
pleading
a
Fifth
deficiency,
Amended
its
Complaint
against those defendants would be futile was also warranted.
See Ruotolo v. City of N.Y., 514 F.3d 184, 191 (2d Cir. 2008)
(recognizing
that
“repeated
failure
6
to
cure
deficiencies
by
amendments previously allowed” is grounds to deny a party leave
to amend (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)).
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs’ NYLL gap-time
claims against Defendants CHS, Mercy Medical Center, New Island
Hospital
a/k/a
St.
Joseph
Hospital,
St.
Catherine
of
Siena
Medical Center, St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center,
St. Francis Hospital, Our Lady of Consolation Geriatric Care
Center, Nursing Sisters Home Care d/b/a Catholic Home Care, and
James Harden are again DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.
The Clerk of the Court is directed to terminate the
letter motion at Docket Entry 222 as MOOT and to mark this
matter CLOSED.
SO ORDERED.
/s/ JOANNA SEYBERT______
Joanna Seybert, U.S.D.J.
Dated:
March
29 , 2013
Central Islip, NY
7
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