Driscoll v. George Wash. Univ.
| Decision Date | 10 September 2012 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 12–0690 (ESH). |
| Citation | 42 F.Supp.3d 52 |
| Parties | David M. DRISCOLL, et al., Plaintiffs, v. GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Plaintiff's motion granted in part and denied in part; defendant's motion denied. Lesley Anne Tse, Michael J.D. Sweeney, Dan Charles Getman, Getman & Sweeney, PLLC, New Paltz, NY, for David M. Driscoll individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated.
Raymond C. Baldwin, Seyfarth Shaw, LLP, Washington, DC, Richard L. Alfred, Two Seaport Lane, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Boston, MA, for George Washington University.
David Driscoll, a former employee of George Washington University (“GWU”), has sued on behalf of himself and others similarly situated alleging that GWU violated federal and D.C. law by failing to pay overtime wages to certain employees. (First Amended Class Action Complaint, June 29, 2012 [Dkt. No. 8] (“Am. Compl.”).) GWU moved to dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) (July 3, 2012 [Dkt. No. 9] (“GWU Mot.”)), and in opposing GWU's motion (July 17, 2012 [Dkt. No. 11] (“Driscoll Opp'n”)), Driscoll filed a cross-motion to amend his complaint (July 17, 2012 [Dkt. No. 12] (“Driscoll Mot.”)), which GWU has, in turn, opposed (Aug. 3, 2012 [Dkt. No. 16] (“GWU Opp'n”)). Both parties filed replies in support of their respective motions. ( See GWU Reply in Support of its Motion to Dismiss, July 27, 2012 [Dkt. No. 15] (“GWU Reply”); Driscoll Reply in Support of his Motion to Amend, August 13, 2012 [Dkt. No. 18] (“Driscoll Reply”).) For the reasons stated, the Court will deny GWU's motion to dismiss and grant in part and deny in part Driscoll's motion to amend.
ANALYSIS
Driscoll has already amended his complaint once, “as a [m]atter of [c]ourse,” Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a)(1), and because GWU has not consented to his amending a second time, he may amend again “only with ... the [C]ourt's leave.” Rule 15(a)(2).
Rule 15 instructs courts to “freely give leave [to amend] when justice so requires,” id., and the “ ‘rule is to be construed liberally.’ ” In re Interbank Funding Corp. Sec. Litig., 629 F.3d 213, 218 (D.C.Cir.2010) (quoting Belizan v. Hershon, 434 F.3d 579, 582 (D.C.Cir.2006)). In Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 83 S.Ct. 227, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962), the Supreme Court instructed:
If the underlying facts or circumstances relied upon by a plaintiff may be a proper subject of relief, he ought to be afforded an opportunity to test his claim on the merits. In the absence of any apparent or declared reason—such as undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, [or] undue prejudice to the opposing party by virtue of allowance of the amendment, futility of amendment, etc.—the leave sought should, as the rules require, be “freely given.”
Id. at 182, 83 S.Ct. 227. “[T]he grant or denial of an opportunity to amend is within [the Court's] discretion ....” Id. “Because amendments are to be liberally granted, the non-movant bears the burden of showing why an amendment should not be allowed.” Abdullah v. Washington, 530 F.Supp.2d 112, 115 (D.D.C.2008); see Hajjar–Nejad v. George Washington Univ., 873 F.Supp.2d 1, 9, 2012 WL 89973, at *7 (D.D.C.2012) ().
GWU argues that Driscoll's motion to amend “should be denied based on [Driscoll's] unexplained delay and [re]sulting prejudice to [GWU]” (GWU Opp'n at 20), but the Court concludes that GWU has not demonstrated a colorable basis for denying Driscoll leave to amend on these grounds. In these circumstances, it is immaterial that Driscoll has already amended his complaint once, and that at the time he filed his first amended complaint he had knowledge of the additional factual allegations in his proposed second amended complaint. “[D]elay alone is [typically] not a sufficient reason for denying leave,” Caribbean Broadcasting System, Ltd. v. Cable & Wireless P.L.C., 148 F.3d 1080, 1084 (D.C.Cir.1998) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted), and courts have granted leave to amend even where plaintiffs have had “five previous attempts to state [a] cognizable claim ... because [the] Federal Rules suggest [that the] ‘artless drafting of a complaint should not allow for the artful dodging of a claim.’ ” Id. (quoting Poloron Prods., Inc. v. Lybrand Ross Bros. & Montgomery, 72 F.R.D. 556, 561 (S.D.N.Y.1976)). Here, Driscoll's original complaint was filed in April 2012, his first amended complaint was filed in June 2012, and he moved to amend in July 2012. This case is not even “prolonged,” and furthermore, “the prolonged nature of a case does not itself affect whether the plaintiff may amend its complaint.” Id.
Moreover, where, as here, the party opposing amendment has not put forward a colorable basis of prejudice, “the contention of undue delay is [even] less persuasive.” Clark v. Feder Semo & Bard, P.C., 560 F.Supp.2d 1, 5 (D.D.C.2008). Discovery has yet to begin. Cf. Abdullah, 530 F.Supp.2d at 115 (). Indeed, all that has happened so far is the filing of the pleadings presently before the Court, wherein all parties have had ample opportunity to address the issues at hand. There is no prejudice here. To the contrary, while the Court need not address the sufficiency of the allegations in Driscoll's first amended complaint, there is no doubt that GWU is benefited by the additional specificity Driscoll provides in his proposed second amended complaint. Finally, GWU's half-hearted argument that Driscoll acted in bad faith is without merit. GWU can point to no evidence of a dilatory motive or of bad faith on Driscoll's part.
GWU's primary argument for denying Driscoll's motion is that the proposed second amended complaint “would not survive a motion to dismiss” such that amendment would be futile. In re Interbank Funding Corp. Securities Litigation, 629 F.3d at 218. Because review for futility “is, for practical purposes, identical to review of a Rule 12(b)(6)” motion to dismiss, id. at 215–16 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted), GWU's futility arguments are addressed below, as part of the Court's consideration of GWU's arguments for dismissal.
In order to withstand a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a complaint need only contain “ ‘a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,’ ” Bell Atlantic Corporation v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)), “in order to ‘give the defendant fair notice of what the ... claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’ ” Id. (alteration in the original) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957)). The notice pleading rules are “not meant to impose a great burden on a plaintiff,” Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Broudo, 544 U.S. 336, 347, 125 S.Ct. 1627, 161 L.Ed.2d 577 (2005) (citing Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N.A., 534 U.S. 506, 513–515, 122 S.Ct. 992, 152 L.Ed.2d 1 (2002)), and a complaint need not contain “detailed factual allegations.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (citing Conley, 355 U.S. at 47, 78 S.Ct. 99). Nevertheless, a plaintiff must furnish “more than labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action,” id. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, and his “complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955).
This Court need not accept as true any legal conclusions couched as factual allegations or inferences unsupported by facts in Driscoll's proposed second amended complaint. Trudeau v. Fed. Trade Comm'n, 456 F.3d 178, 193 (D.C.Cir.2006). Yet, in determining whether the factual allegations which are entitled to an assumption of truth are “enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level,” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, the Court must grant Driscoll “ ‘the benefit of all inferences that can be derived from the facts alleged.’ ” Am. Nat'l Ins. Co. v. F.D.I.C., 642 F.3d 1137, 1139 (D.C.Cir.2011) (quoting Thomas v. Principi, 394 F.3d 970, 972 (D.C.Cir.2005)).
GWU argues that all four of the causes of action in Driscoll's proposed second amended complaint must be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6). The Court will address the sufficiency of each cause of action in turn.
The FLSA's overtime provision “ordinarily requires employers to pay employees time-and-one-half for hours worked beyond forty per week unless the employees are exempt.” Smith v. Gov't Emps. Ins. Co., 590 F.3d 886, 888 (D.C.Cir.2010); see 29 U.S.C. § 207(a). In order to state a claim under the FLSA for unpaid overtime, a plaintiff must allege that: (1) the defendant employed him; (2) the defendant is an enterprise engaged in interstate commerce covered by the FLSA or the plaintiff is otherwise covered by the FLSA; (3) the plaintiff actually worked in excess of a 40–hour work week; and (4) the defendant failed to pay him overtime wages as...
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