Dauphin v. Chestnut Ridge Transp., Inc.

• Decision Date: 26 March 2008
• Docket Number: No. 06 Civ. 2730(SHS).,06 Civ. 2730(SHS).
• Citation: 544 F.Supp.2d 266
• Parties: Remy DAUPHIN, On Behalf of Himself and All Other Persons Similarly Situated, Plaintiffs, v. CHESTNUT RIDGE TRANSPORTATION, INC., and John Corr, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

544 F.Supp.2d 266

Remy DAUPHIN, On Behalf of Himself and All Other Persons Similarly Situated, Plaintiffs, v. CHESTNUT RIDGE TRANSPORTATION, INC., and John Corr, Defendants.

No. 06 Civ. 2730(SHS).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

March 26, 2008.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Karl J. Stoecker, Law Offices of Karl J. Stoecker, New York, NY, for Plaintiffs.

John K. Diviney, Alan B. Pearl, Sima Ali Asad, Alan B. Pearl & Associates, P.C., Syosset, NY, for Defendants.

OPINION & ORDER

SIDNEY H. STEIN, District Judge.

Plaintiffs, seventeen current and former school bus drivers, bring this action seeking unpaid overtime compensation from defendants Chestnut Ridge Transportation, Inc. ("CR Transportation"), and its president, John Corr. Plaintiffs' complaint is based on the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219 ("FLSA"), and New York state law. Plaintiff Remy Dauphin also alleges that defendants violated state law by terminating him in retaliation for his complaints of unpaid overtime. CR Transportation is a private company that contracts with public school districts in Rockland County, New York, and Bergen County, New Jersey — which are on adjacent sides of the New York-New Jersey border — to provide school bus transportation. Plaintiffs' job responsibilities consist primarily of driving students back and forth between home and school. CR Transportation, however, offers its employee bus drivers additional work assignments, called "charters," that involve driving students and others to school events such as field trips and athletic competitions. Plaintiffs allege that defendants failed to pay overtime at the FLSA's overtime rate for charters, instead compensating charter work at the regular rate of pay. In response, defendants seek to avail themselves of the "motor carrier exemption" to the FLSA's overtime provision, which exempts interstate motor carriers regulated by the Secretary of Transportation (the "Secretary") from the FLSA's overtime rate. See 29 U.S.C. § 213(b)(1).

Defendants have moved for summary judgment on the ground that the motor carrier exemption authorizes them to compensate drivers for overtime at the regular rate of pay rather than at the overtime rate. As explained below, issues of fact exist on this record as to whether the exemption applies, and defendants' motion for summary judgment as to plaintiffs' FLSA and state-law overtime claims is accordingly denied. Defendants' motion for summary judgment as to plaintiff Dauphin's retaliation claim is granted because Dauphin has not presented any evidence that he was retaliated against for complaining to his employer about unpaid overtime.

I. BACKGROUND

Except as noted, the following facts are not in dispute. Defendant CR Transportation and a related entity, CR Transit (collectively, "Chestnut Ridge"), provide school bus services to public and private schools and various preschool programs and summer camps in Rockland and Bergen Counties. (Defendants' Statement of Undisputed Facts Pursuant to Local Rule 56.1 ("Defs.' 56.1") ¶¶ 1, 3, 26, 27; Plaintiffs' Counterstatement Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 56.1 ("Pls.' 56.1") ¶¶ 1, 3, 26, 27.) Chestnut Ridge compensates drivers at a rate of one and one half times their normal hourly rate of pay for overtime they incur in the course of these regular runs. (Defs' 56.1 ¶ 53; Pls.' 56.1 ¶ 53.)

In addition to regular runs, Chestnut Ridge provides one-time charters for sports teams, school field trips, clubs, and other school-related activities and summer camp activities; for weddings and bar mitzvahs; and for group trips to concerts, theme parks, sporting events, and museums. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶¶ 42-45; Pls.' 56.1 ¶¶ 42-45.)

CR Transportation operates out of two bus yards: one on Red Schoolhouse Road in Chestnut Ridge, New York (the "Schoolhouse Road yard"), and another on West Church Street in Spring Valley, New York (the "West Church Street yard"). (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 6; Pls.' 56.1 ¶ 6.) CR Transit operates out of a bus yard in Hillburn, New York (the "Hillburn yard"). (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 8; Pls.' 56.1 ¶ 8.) Both the Schoolhouse Road and Hillburn yards are located within one mile of the New York-New Jersey border. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶¶ 7, 9; Pls.' 56.1 ¶¶ 7, 9.)

The parties disagree regarding the extent to which Chestnut Ridge drivers cross state lines as part of their regular runs. Defendants contend that Chestnut Ridge drivers must necessarily do so on a daily basis as part of their regular duties because the Schoolhouse Road and Hillburn yards are so close to the border. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 15; Affidavit of Patricia Riviello ("Riviello Aff.") ¶¶ 13, 15.) Plaintiffs claim, however, that only a minority of drivers cross state lines during regular runs. (Pls.' 56.1 ¶ 15; Affidavit of Anthony Contento in Opposition to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment ("Contento Aff.") ¶¶ 6-8; Affidavit of Gina Conklin in Opposition to Defendant's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment ("Conklin Aff.") ¶¶ 3-5.) It is undisputed, however, that the provision of transportation services for seven schools or school districts — the German School, Pearl Rivers Schools, Saddle River Day School, St. Joseph's Regional High School, Bergen Catholic, the Academy of Holy Angels, and the Immaculate Heart Academy — require Chestnut Ridge drivers to cross state lines. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 17; Pls.' 56.1 ¶ 17.)

In all, about eighty of Chestnut Ridge's 375 drivers perform approximately 600 charters each month. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶¶ 10, 11, 54, 55; Pls.' 56.1 ¶¶ 10, 11, 54, 55.) The record does not establish how many of these drivers are involved in performing charters or how many charters involve interstate travel. Defendants state that "many" charters were to destinations in other states. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 46; Riviello Aff. ¶ 41.) Plaintiffs, on the other hand, contend that only a "small minority" of charters called for interstate travel. (Pls.' 56.1 ¶ 46.) Plaintiff Anthony Contento asserts that of the fifty-eight charters he performed between 2004 and 2005, seventeen involved travel to and from points in New Jersey. (Contento Aff. ¶ 13.) Plaintiff Gina Conklin states that in the course of her employment with Chestnut Ridge between 2002 and 2006, she drove at least eighty-six charters, of which only four involved crossing state lines. (Conklin Aff. ¶ 7.) It is undisputed that the most common route for drivers performing charters for the Pearl River School District required crossing into New Jersey. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 16; Pls.' 56.1 ¶ 16.)

Defendants assert that all of their drivers are expected to perform charters, which are assigned based on drivers' seniority and the company's needs, and that a driver can be assigned at any time to a charter involving interstate travel. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶¶ 20, 56.) Plaintiffs, however, contend that charters are strictly voluntary. Plaintiff Conklin states that from 2002 to 2004, charters were assigned randomly to drivers who volunteered. (Conklin Aff. ¶ 8.) Beginning in 2004, Chestnut Ridge compiled a list of drivers who had expressed an interest in doing charter work and assigned charters from within that list on the basis of seniority. (Id. ¶ 9.) In November 2005, Chestnut Ridge instituted a policy of removing drivers from the list once they had declined two charters. (Id. ¶ 10.) Conklin, however, who assisted Chestnut Ridge's charter coordinator from April 2005 to April 2006, states that despite this policy she never penalized a driver for refusing a charter. (Id. ¶¶ 11, 12.)

Plaintiff Dauphin worked for Chestnut Ridge for a decade between the end of October 1995 and the beginning of November 2005. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 12; Pls.' 56.1 ¶ 12.) During his employment, he performed charters on daily basis. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 65; Pls.' 56.1 ¶ 65.) On April 7, 2006, Dauphin initiated the present action on behalf of himself and all similarly situated persons alleging violations of the FLSA, see 29 U.S.C. § 207, and New York law, see N.Y. Labor Law § 160; N.Y. Comp.Codes R. & Regs. tit. 12, § 142-2.2. He asserts his FLSA claim as a collective action pursuant 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) and his state-law overtime claim as a putative class action pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 23. Sixteen other current and former Chestnut Ridge drivers have since opted into the FLSA collective action portion of this litigation. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 14; Pls.' 56.1 ¶ 14.) In addition, Dauphin alleges that defendants terminated his employment in retaliation for his complaints to them regarding unpaid overtime, in violation of section 662 of the New York Labor Law. The record before the Court contains no information regarding the circumstances of Dauphin's termination.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Summary Judgment Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate if the evidence shows that there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 411 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In determining whether a genuine issue of material fact exists, the Court "is to resolve all ambiguities and draw all permissible factual inferences in favor of the party against whom summary judgment is sought." Patterson v. County of Oneida, 375 F.3d 206, 219 (2d Cir.2004). The party opposing summary judgment, however, "may not rely on mere conclusory allegations or speculation, but instead must offer some hard evidence" in support of its factual assertions, D'Amico v. City of New York, 132 F.3d 145, 149 (2d Cir.1998), such that "`there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party,'" Golden Pac. Bancorp v. FDIC, 375 F.3d 196, 200 (2d Cir.2004) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 411 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)).

B. The FLSA and the Motor Carrier Exemption

The FLSA requires that employees engaged in interstate commerce be paid "at a rate not less than one and one-half times the [employee's] regular rate" of pay for...