Richardson v. All. Residential Co.

• Decision Date: 29 April 2020
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. ELH-18-1114
• Parties: CHRISTINA RICHARDSON, et al., Plaintiffs v. ALLIANCE RESIDENTIAL COMPANY, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

CHRISTINA RICHARDSON, et al., Plaintiffs v. ALLIANCE RESIDENTIAL COMPANY, Defendant.

Civil Action No. ELH-18-1114

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

April 29, 2020

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Plaintiffs Christina Richardson and Gordon Clark filed suit against their former employer, defendant Alliance Residential Company ("Alliance" or the "Company"). ECF 1. They alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., and corresponding provisions under Maryland law. See Md. Code (2016 Repl. Vol., 2017 Supp.), § 3-401 et seq. of the Labor & Employment Article. Following discovery, plaintiffs moved for partial summary judgment. ECF 28. In a Memorandum Opinion (ECF 40) and Order (ECF 41) of February 4, 2020, I denied plaintiffs' motion.

Alliance has filed a motion (ECF 42) seeking "an Order clarifying and/or reconsidering one of the findings/conclusions contained" in the Court's Memorandum Opinion. Id. at 1. Specifically, the Company seeks to clarify whether the Memorandum Opinion forecloses it from arguing at trial that it lacked knowledge that Mr. Clark worked overtime, without pay. See id. at 1-2. If so, Alliance asks the Court to revisit its ruling. Id. at 4. The Company's motion is supported by a memorandum of law. ECF 42-1 (collectively, the "Motion" or "Motion to Reconsider"). Plaintiff opposes the Motion (ECF 43), and Alliance has replied. ECF 44.

No hearing is necessary to resolve the Motion to Reconsider. See Local Rule 105.6. For the reasons that follow, I shall grant the Motion in part and deny it in part.

I. Background

A. Factual Background¹

Alliance, a property management company, manages an 82-unit apartment building located on East Saratoga Street in Baltimore (the "Property"). ECF 3 (Answer), ¶ 4; see also Our Company, ALLIANCE RESIDENTIAL COMPANY, http://www.allresco.com/ (last visited Jan. 23, 2020). An on-site "business manager" oversees the Property's day-to-day operations, such as marketing and leasing, collecting rent, managing on-site staff, and interfacing with residents. ECF 28-1 (Elizabeth Karl Deposition) at 23, Tr. 7, 9. Generally, the business manager reports to a "regional manager," who, in turn, is supervised by a "regional vice president." Id. at 23, Tr. 7.

Ms. Richardson served as the Property's business manager from April 18, 2016 to November 1, 2017. ECF 28-1 (Richardson Answers to Interrogatories) at 60, No. 2. When Ms. Richardson began working at Alliance, the Company lacked a regional manager. As a result, Ms. Richardson was supervised by regional vice president Elizabeth Karl. ECF 28-1 at 23, Tr. 8. In December 2016, Alliance hired Sarah Malone as a regional manager. As of that time, Ms. Malone supervised Ms. Richardson until Ms. Richardson left employment with Alliance. Id.; see also ECF 28-1 at 60, No. 2.

Mr. Clark worked as the Property's on-site service supervisor from approximately October 2016 to October 2017. ECF 28-1 (Clark Answers to Interrogatories) at 71, No. 2; see also ECF 28-3 (Clark Deposition) at 110, Tr. 12; id. at 115, Tr. 32. Employed as an hourly worker, Mr. Clark's regular hours were Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ECF 28-1 at 81,No. 2; ECF 29-1 (Clark Deposition) at 4, Tr. 67.² Mr. Clark was supervised by Ms. Richardson throughout his time at Alliance. ECF 28-1 (Alliance Admissions) at 82, No. 6; see also ECF 28-1 at 25, Tr. 16. Per the Company's policy, Ms. Richardson, as Mr. Clark's direct supervisor, was responsible for approving Mr. Clark's overtime work. ECF 28-1 at 33, Tr. 46.

When Alliance hired Ms. Richardson and Mr. Clark, it provided them with a copy of its Associate Handbook (the "Handbook"). ECF 28-2 at 6, Tr. 20-21; ECF 29-1 at 3-4, Tr. 65-66. Plaintiffs agreed to read the Handbook and become familiar with its provisions. Id. The Handbook advised employees that federal and state law require accurate timekeeping, and that Alliance had implemented timekeeping procedures for employees to record and submit accurate time records. See ECF 36-1 (Alliance Handbook) at 27. The Handbook stated, in part, id.:

Accurate Time. Accurately recording time worked is the responsibility of every Associate. Federal and state laws require the Company to keep an accurate record of time worked in order to calculate Associate pay and benefits. Time worked is all the time actually spent on the job performing assigned duties. Associates are expected to regularly arrive at work on time, ready to work. Associates will be disciplined for excessive and/or unexcused absences. Non-exempt Associates should accurately record the time they begin and end their work, as well as the beginning and ending time of each meal period. They also should record the beginning and ending time of any split shift or departure from work for personal reasons.

Further, the Handbook contained a section titled "OVERTIME PAY FOR NON-EXEMPT ASSOCIATES." Id. at 57 (emphasis in original). The section provided, id.:

a. Prior Approval. Non-exempt Associates may be required to work overtime at their Supervisor's request. All overtime requires the prior approval of the Associate's Supervisor or Manager. Associates who work overtime without prior approval will be paid in accordance with the law, however, may be subject to disciplinary action up to and included termination for violating the prior approval requirement.b. Record All Hours Worked. If your position is classified as non-exempt, you must record all hours worked. Working off the clock is prohibited, and no manager has the authority to require any Associate to do so. Any Associate who works off the clock or any manager that requests an Associate work off the clock may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination.

c. Miscellaneous. To respect each Associate's personal schedule, every effort will be made to minimize unwanted overtime. However, business demands are such that overtime may be required as a condition of employment. The company pays overtime in accordance with applicable federal and state laws. "Hours worked" does not include paid time off for holidays, vacation, illness, inclement weather, jury duty or bereavement.

Mr. Clark acknowledged at his deposition that he had read the Handbook. ECF 29-1 at 7, Tr. 78-79; see id. at 3-4, Tr. 65-57. When asked if he "understood that it was the company's policy that 'working off the clock is prohibited and no manager has the authority to require an associate to do so,'" Mr. Clark responded: "Yeah. I mean, its—it says it here." Id. at Tr. 79.

According to plaintiffs, Ms. Malone met with Ms. Richardson in February 2017, and instructed Ms. Richardson not to record more than forty hours of work per week. See ECF 28-2 at 16, Tr. 16; see id. at 18, Tr. 18. Ms. Richardson testified at her deposition that Ms. Malone said: "[Alliance] didn't have any money right now to pay overtime, my hours that I could get paid for were 9:00 to 5:00, but my job description expectations did not change." Id. at 25, Tr. 97; see also id. at 26, Tr. 100 ("[S]he stated that I could only basically get paid from 9:00 to 5:00, but my expectations and me being on call, none of that was changing."). Further, Ms. Richardson testified that she knew Ms. Malone's directive violated Alliance's policies. Id. at 29, Tr. 112. But, she did not report the conversation to Ms. Karl or to the Company's human resources department because she was worried that doing so could lead to her termination. Id. at 29, Tr. 112-13; see also id. at 30, Tr. 115.

Shortly after Ms. Richardson met with Ms. Malone in February 2017, Ms. Richardson spoke with Mr. Clark. ECF 28-2 at 13, Tr. 49; see ECF 29-1 at 14-15, Tr. 106-113. According toMr. Clark, Ms. Richardson indicated that she had just talked to Ms. Malone. ECF 29-1 at 14, Tr. 109. Both Ms. Richardson and Mr. Clark testified that Ms. Richardson then told Mr. Clark that he could not record more than 40 hours of work per week on his timecard. ECF 28-2 at 13, Tr. 48; ECF 29-1 at 15, Tr. 110, 113. Mr. Clark testified that he became upset and walked away from Ms. Richardson, ending the conversation. ECF 29-1 at 16, Tr. 114. Mr. Clark never spoke directly with Ms. Malone about his overtime work. Id. at 13, Tr. 105.

Mr. Clark maintains that when Ms. Karl supervised Ms. Richardson, Mr. Clark would record time for work occurring outside of his regular hours when he considered it a "major" task, such as a repair that took an hour or more to complete. ECF 29-1 at 12, Tr. 98; see id. at 19, Tr. 128-29. In contrast, he did not record "minor" tasks that took 15-20 minutes or less, such as assisting a resident who was locked out of an apartment. Id. at 12, Tr. 98-100.

Following Mr. Clark's conversation with Ms. Richardson, Mr. Clark claims that he worked 50 hours per week: 40 regular hours between Monday and Friday and an additional 10 hours of overtime work on the evenings or weekends. ECF 28-1 at 71, No. 2. However, Mr. Clark admitted during his deposition that he did not change how he recorded his hours after talking to Ms. Richardson. That is, he continued to record hours outside of his regular schedule for "major" tasks, but not for minor tasks. ECF 29-1 at 19, Tr. 129; see also id. at 12, Tr. 98-101.

Mr. Clark resigned from Alliance in October 2017, and Ms. Richardson left on November 1, 2017. ECF 28-1 at 60, No. 2. Mr. Clark seeks $14,944.20 for the ten hours of overtime that he alleges he worked each week, without compensation, from February 1, 2017 to October 27, 2017. ECF 28-1 at 76, No. 10. Ms. Richardson seeks compensation for 51.5 hours of overtime pay for a period of 36 weeks. See ECF 28-1 at 76, No. 10; ECF 28-2 at 48, Tr. 189. The Motion implicates the Court's ruling only as to Mr. Clark.

B. Procedural History

Plaintiffs filed suit on April 17, 2018. ECF 1. On July 20, 2018, after defendants answered the Complaint, the Court issued a Scheduling Order. ECF 8. It set, inter alia, a deadline of December 17, 2018 to complete...