Bowrin v. Catholic Guardian Soc.
| Citation | 417 F.Supp.2d 449 |
| Decision Date | 02 March 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 04 CIV. 1258(RJH).,04 CIV. 1258(RJH). |
| Parties | Alberta BOWRIN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CATHOLIC GUARDIAN SOCIETY, Defendant. |
| Court | United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. Southern District of New York |
Andrew John Elmore, The Legal Aid Society Staten Island Office, New York City, NY, for Plaintiffs.
Joseph Blaise Cartafalsa, Putney Twombly Hall & Hirson LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant.
Andrew John Elmore, The Legal Aid Society Staten Island Office, New York City, NY.
This opinion replaces an opinion previously issued on February 22, 2006[70] that contained a typographical error significant to the disposition of the case.
In this action, plaintiffs, nine current or former employees of defendant Catholic Guardian Society ("CGS"), seek payment under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. (2000) ("FLSA" or "the Act"), of unpaid overtime premium wages for hours in excess of forty hours per week. Plaintiffs further seek liquidated damages in an amount equal to the unpaid wages, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), and application of a three-year statute of limitations under 29 U.S.0 § 255(a). Finally, individual plaintiff Lisa Rogers alleges a claim for breach of contract, for CGS's failure to pay two weeks' salary in lieu of two weeks' notice upon her termination.
The parties have each filed separate motions for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, disputing primarily whether, as a matter of law, defendant is subject to coverage under the FLSA. For the reasons set forth below, the parties' motions are granted in part and denied in part.
Unless otherwise indicated, the following facts are undisputed.
CGS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the service of families and children, with funding derived from federal, state, and local reimbursements and grants. (Breidenbach Aff. ¶ 7; Longley Aff. (May 20, 2005) ¶ 14.) Founded in 1908, CGS originally served as an aftercare agency, providing transition services to children who were released from other homes. In the 1960s, CGS began providing foster care services through foster boarding home placements and residential group homes. (Id. at 71:06-71:11.) CGS currently maintains approximately forty residential and nonresidential facilities in Staten Island, Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Suffolk County, New York. (Breidenbach Aff. ¶ 2.) CGS presently operates two residential programs, the Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities ("MRDD") program for mentally retarded individuals (Frein Aff. ¶ 9) and the Congregate Care program for foster youth (Frein Dep. I at 70-71).
In about 1978, CGS began its MRDD program (Frien Aff. ¶ 9) which provides residential care for diagnosed mentally retarded persons . This program is separately licensed and reimbursed by the state with funding provided by New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. There are twenty-four group homes in CGS's MRDD program, with 167 available beds, presently serving 165 adolescents and adults. (Longley Dep. 100:23-101:10; Longley Aff. (May 20, 2005) ¶ 4.) For the 2004 fiscal year, MRDD's revenues of $18,440,484 accounted for forty-eight percent of CGS's total gross revenues of $38,446,543. A diagnosis of mental retardation or developmental disabilities is a prerequisite to admission into an MRDD facility. (Longley Dep. 52:20-52:23.) An individual (or her advocate or guardian) must apply for residential or respite care services from an MRDD-operated developmental services office. (Id. at 52:24-53:03.) CGS then gathers diagnostic assessments performed by physicians for the individual. (Id. at 53:09-12.) The diagnostic assessments are first reviewed by Tim Carey, the director of the MRDD program, who will make a recommendation and forward it to Craig Longley, CGS's Associate Executive Director. (Id. at 53:19-54:08.) The final decision regarding the appropriateness of an individual's admission into the program is made by Longley. (Id.)
MRDD group homes are regularly staffed with resident nurses, social workers and periodically, psychologists. (Longley Dep. 61:04-61:08.) In addition, MRDD staffs direct care workers who "oversee the routine care and treatment of the consumers in the facilities . . .." (Id. at 92:05-92:07.) "Some of [these direct care workers] are trained to administer medications ..., [and] to record in documents consumers' behaviors, [and] their response to medications . . .." (Id. at 92:23-93:02.)
In 1984, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") audited CGS and determined that the MRDD program was covered by DOL overtime regulations. (Frien Dep. I at 97:20-98:20.) As a result, CGS paid retroactive overtime wages and began paying MRDD nonexempt employees an overtime premium, a practice it continues to this day. (Id.; Briedenbach Dep. 22:21-23:12.)
In addition to its MRDD program, CGS provides a comprehensive range of child welfare services to approximately 835 children. (Longley Aff. (May 20, 2005) ¶ 2.) These services are administered through community-based private foster homes, community-based child abuse and neglect prevention programs, and residential group homes.1 (Id.) Children are referred to CGS for child welfare service by the New York City Administration for Children's Services ("ACS"). (Longley Dep. 54:12-54:17.) CGS provides a range of placement options for foster children, including (but not limited to) placing them in private homes with individual foster families ("foster boarding homes") or in residential group homes operated by CGS staff. (Longley Dep. 56:23-57:24.)
Prior to making a referral, ACS's clinical staff and child evaluation specialists make a clinical assessment of the child. (Longley Dep. 54:18-56:02.) The ACS child evaluation specialist will specify in her referral in which program the child should be placed. (Id. at 56:06-56:12.) On CGS's end, the intake coordinator will determine the appropriateness of the referral for placement in a particular CGS facility, based on her own judgment, consultation with the Congregate Care director Sunday Odua and/or his superior, Director of Residential Treatment Services, Dr. Gerrie Goldfarb, and the clinical assessment provided by ACS in its referral. (Longley Dep. 54:24-56:05.) CGS will make a recommendation as to what facility it believes to be appropriate, based on bed availability and its own view of the provided clinical assessment, but ACS makes the final decision. (Id. at 59:05-59:16.)
CGS's residential group homes constitute the Congregate Care program, which is also known as CGS's "residential treatment services program." Congregate Care serves approximately 136 children. (Longley Aff. (May 20, 2005) ¶ 6.) Of the twelve Congregate Care group homes in CGS, three are regular group homes, six are designated "Hard-to-Place" group homes, two are Mother-Child facilities, and the last is a nonsecured detention group home. (Longley Dep. 97:18-99:08; Breidenbach Dep. 70:09-70:11.) CGS began operating its two types of Hard-to-Place homes, called Assertive Community Treatment ("ACT") homes and Rapid Assessment ("RA") homes, in 2002. The function of ACT and RA homes is discussed in greater detail below. Of the six. Hard-to-Place homes, four are ACT homes with thirty-eight available beds, and two are RA homes with twenty available beds. (Longley Dep. 98:17-99:08.) The Congregate Care program's total revenues for the fiscal year of 2004 were $12,383,741, or approximately thirty-two percent of CGS's total gross revenues. (See CGS Standards of Payments; Frein Dep. I at 51:04-51:09.) The Hard-to-Place homes generated a total of $4,369,361 in regular and $1,787,606 in Medicaid revenue, for a total of $6,156,967 or approximately fifteen percent of CGS's gross revenues. (CGS Standards of Payments; Breidenbach Dep. 73:25-74:03.) Of the Hard-to-Place revenues, two-thirds or around $4,104,645 were attributable to the four ACT homes. (Briedenbach Dep. 70:03-70:11.) The ACT program, therefore, accounts for approximately one-third of the Congregate Care program's total revenue.
CGS's three regular group homes are designated for abused and neglected children that ACS has determined "cannot function in a family setting safely or appropriately, and ... require residential placement where they can be observed and monitored and put through structured behavior modification systems in order to correct their behavior." (Longley Dep. 68:02-68:12.) As of March 2005, the approximate number of children residing in CGS's three regular group homes was twenty-two. (Id. at 72:08.) There are thirty-two total available beds. (Id. at 98:05.) The regular group homes are permanently staffed by group home supervisors and child care workers, and periodically staffed with a substance abuse counselor, an applied behavior scientist, a case worker, a social worker supervisor, and a part-time registered nurse. (Id. at 72:18-25.) Defendant does not dispute there is a therapeutic element to services provided in the regular group homes. (Id. at 73:03-73:09; Odua Dep. 94:23-95:05.) The responsibilities of child care workers generally include ensuring school attendance, administration of medication, transportation to activities, such as recreation, visits with biological and foster care families, reviews with ACS, and medical appointments. Child care workers are also responsible for...
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