Ulrich v. Soft Drink

• Decision Date: 01 December 2019
• Docket Number: No. 17-CV-5547 (KMK),No. 17-CV-4730 (KMK),17-CV-4730 (KMK)
• Parties: John ULRICH, Plaintiff, v. SOFT DRINK, BREWERY WORKERS AND DELIVERY EMPLOYEES, INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYEES, WAREHOUSEMEN, HELPERS AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKERS, GREATER NEW YORK AND VICINITY, LOCAL UNION NO. 812, et al., Defendants. Lawrence DeBellis, Plaintiff, v. Soft Drink, Brewery Workers and Delivery Employees, Industrial Employees, Warehousemen, Helpers and Miscellaneous Workers, Greater New York and Vicinity, Local Union No. 812, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

425 F.Supp.3d 234

John ULRICH, Plaintiff,

v.SOFT DRINK, BREWERY WORKERS AND DELIVERY EMPLOYEES, INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYEES, WAREHOUSEMEN, HELPERS AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKERS, GREATER NEW YORK AND VICINITY, LOCAL UNION NO. 812, et al., Defendants.

Lawrence DeBellis, Plaintiff,

v.Soft Drink, Brewery Workers and Delivery Employees, Industrial Employees, Warehousemen, Helpers and Miscellaneous Workers, Greater New York and Vicinity, Local Union No. 812, et al., Defendants.

No. 17-CV-4730 (KMK)

No. 17-CV-5547 (KMK)

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

Signed December 1, 2019

Filed December 3, 2019

Joseph J. Ranni, Esq., Ranni Law Firm, Florida, NY, Counsel for Plaintiffs John Ulrich and Lawrence DeBellis.

Anthony Patrick Consiglio, Esq., Larry Cary, Esq., Cary Kane LLP, New York, NY, Counsel for Defendants.

OPINION & ORDER

KENNETH M. KARAS, United States District Judge:

John Ulrich ("Ulrich") and Lawrence DeBellis ("DeBellis") (collectively, "Plaintiffs"), bring these Actions (respectively, Case Nos. 17-CV-4730 and 17-CV-5547), against Soft Drink & Brewery Workers and Delivery Employees, Industrial Employees, Warehousemen, Helpers and Miscellaneous Workers Greater New York and Vicinity Local Union No. 812 ("Local 812" or "Union"), Edward Weber ("Weber"), individually and in his official capacity as President of Local 812, Joseph Vitta ("Vitta"), individually and in his official capacity as Secretary Treasurer of Local 812, John Visconti ("Visconti"), individually and in his official capacity as Vice President of Local 812, Mario Alvarez ("Alvarez"), and Artie Bowman ("Bowman"), each individually and in his official capacity as Trustee of Local 812, and James Surdi ("Surdi"), individually and in his official capacity as Recording Secretary of Local 812 (collectively, "Defendants").¹ (See Ulrich Am. Compl. (Case No. 17-CV-4730, Dkt. No. 30); DeBellis Am. Compl. (Case No. 17-CV-5547, Dkt. No. 18).)²

Plaintiffs allege retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. ("Title VII") and the New York State Human Rights Law, N.Y. Exec. Law § 296 ("NYSHRL"), and state law defamation, in connection with Plaintiffs' termination from their Union jobs. (See generally Ulrich Am. Compl.; DeBellis Am. Compl.) Before the Court are Defendants' Motions to Dismiss (the "Motions"). (See Case No. 17-CV-4730, Ulrich Not. of Mot.; Decl. of Anthony P. Consiglio, Esq. in Supp. of Ulrich's Mot. ("Ulrich Consiglio Decl."); Defs.' Mem. in Supp. of Ulrich's Mot. ("Ulrich Defs.' Mem.") (Dkt. Nos. 78–80); Case No. 17-CV-5547, DeBellis Not. of Mot.; Decl. of Anthony P. Consiglio, Esq. in Supp. of DeBellis's Mot. ("DeBellis Consiglio Decl."); Defs.' Mem. in Supp. of DeBellis's Mot. ("DeBellis Defs.' Mem.") (Dkt. Nos. 71–73).)³ For the following reasons, Defendants' Motion as to Ulrich is denied in part, and Defendants' Motion as to DeBellis is granted.

I. Background

The factual and procedural background of these cases were discussed in detail in the previous Opinion. (See Op. 3–34.) The Court will address the alleged facts as needed throughout and supplements the procedural background below.

On March 15, 2019, the Court denied Plaintiffs' Motions to Amend in both cases. (See Op. 80–81.) The operative complaints for these Motions are thus the Amended Complaints in both cases. (See generally Ulrich Am. Compl.; DeBellis Am. Compl.) On April 5, 2019, the Parties appeared for a Status Conference, where the Court adopted a briefing schedule for the instant Motion. (See Case No. 17-CV-4730 Dkt. (minute entry for Apr. 5, 2019), Dkt. No. 71; Case No. 17-CV-5547, Dkt. No. 64).) On April 23, 2019, counsel to Defendants Joint Council 16 ("Joint Council 16"), International Brotherhood of Teamsters ("IBT"), and Brad Raymond ("Raymond") submitted letters in both cases notifying the Court that Plaintiff's counsel had advised her that Plaintiffs no longer intended to pursue Counts I and II of the Amended Complaint and requested that those Counts be dismissed with prejudice. (Case No. 17-CV-4730, Dkt. No. 74; Case No. 17-CV-5547, Dkt. No. 67.) On June 7, 2019, the parties filed Stipulations of Voluntary Dismissal in both cases, which proposed to dismiss Counts I and II of the Amended Complaints with prejudice. (See Proposed Stipulation of Dismissal with Prejudice ("Proposed Stipulation of Dismissal") (Case No. 17-CV-4730, Dkt. No. 83; Case No. 17-CV-5547, Dkt. No. 76).) The Court signed the Stipulations of Dismissal on July 29, 2019. (See Signed Stipulation of Dismissal ("Stipulation of Dismissal") Case No. 17-CV-4730, Dkt. No. 89; Case No. 17-CV-5547, Dkt. No. 81.) The Stipulation of Dismissal terminated all originally named Defendants other than the current Defendants from the case. (See id. )

On May 14, 2019, Defendants filed the instant Motions and Memoranda in both cases, which pertain only to the remaining Counts and Defendants in the case, i.e., Plaintiffs' Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Claims for Relief in the Amended Complaint and Defendants Local 812, Weber, Visconti, Vitta, Surdi, Alvarez, and Bowman collectively. (See Ulrich Not. of Mot.; Ulrich Consiglio Decl.; Ulrich Defs.' Mem.; DeBellis Not. of Mot.; DeBellis Consiglio Decl.; DeBellis Defs.' Mem.) Plaintiffs filed their Oppositions in both cases on June 26, 2019. (Ulrich's Opp'n to Mot. ("Ulrich's Mem.") (Case No. 17-CV-4730, Dkt. No. 85); DeBellis's Opp'n to Mot. ("DeBellis's Mem.") (Case No. 17-CV-5547, Dkt. No. 77).) Defendants filed Replies in both cases on July 18, 2019. (Ulrich Reply Mem. in Supp. of Mot. ("Ulrich Defs.' Reply Mem.") (Case No. 17-CV-4730, Dkt. No. 88); DeBellis Reply Mem. in Supp. of Mot. ("DeBellis Defs.' Reply Mem.") (Case No. 17-CV-5547, Dkt. No. 80).)⁴

II. Discussion

A. Standard of Review

The Supreme Court has held that although a complaint "does not need detailed factual allegations" to survive a motion to dismiss, "a plaintiff's obligation to provide the grounds of his entitlement to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (alteration and quotation marks omitted). Indeed, Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure "demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation." Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted). "Nor does a complaint suffice if it tenders naked assertions devoid of further factual enhancement." Id. (alteration and quotation marks omitted). Instead, a complaint's "[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level." Twombly , 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Although "once a claim has been stated adequately, it may be supported by showing any set of facts consistent with the allegations in the complaint," id. at 563, 127 S.Ct. 1955, and a plaintiff must allege "only enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face," id. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, if a plaintiff has not "nudged [his or her] claims across the line from conceivable to plausible, the[ ] complaint must be dismissed," id. ; see also Iqbal , 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937 ("Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief will ... be a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense. But where the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged—but it has not ‘show[n]’—‘that the pleader is entitled to relief.’ " (citation omitted) (second alteration in original) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2) )); id. at 678–79, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (" Rule 8 marks a notable and generous departure from the hypertechnical, code-pleading regime of a prior era, but it does not unlock the doors of discovery for a plaintiff armed with nothing more than conclusions.").

In considering Defendants' Motions To Dismiss, the Court is required to "accept as true all of the factual allegations contained in the [C]omplaint." Erickson v. Pardus , 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007) (per curiam); see also Nielsen v. Rabin , 746 F.3d 58, 62 (2d Cir. 2014) (same). And, the Court must "draw[ ] all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff." Daniel v. T & M Prot. Res., Inc. , 992 F. Supp. 2d 302, 304 n.1 (S.D.N.Y. 2014) (citing Koch v. Christie's Int'l PLC , 699 F.3d 141, 145 (2d Cir. 2012) ). Further, generally, "[i]n adjudicating a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a district court must confine its consideration to facts stated on the face of the complaint, in documents appended to the complaint or incorporated in the complaint by reference, and to matters of which judicial notice may be taken." Leonard F. v. Isr. Disc. Bank of N.Y. , 199 F.3d 99, 107 (2d Cir. 1999) (quotation marks and citation omitted).

B. Analysis

1. Defamation Claims

Defendants moved to dismiss the state law defamation claims alleged against Weber, Vitta, Visconti, and Surdi. (See Ulrich Defs.' Mem. 2; DeBellis Defs.' Mem. 2.) In their Oppositions, Plaintiffs withdrew their defamation claims. (See Ulrich's Mem. 1; DeBellis's Mem. 1.)⁵

Accordingly, the Court dismisses Count X from both Amended Complaints with prejudice.

2. Retaliation Claims

Defendants move to dismiss Plaintiffs' claims for retaliation under Title VII, arguing as to both Plaintiffs that individual defendants cannot be held liable under Title VII. (Ulrich Defs.' Mem. 18; DeBellis Defs.' Mem. 14.) Furthermore, as to Ulrich, Defendants argue that he does not plausibly allege a causal connection between engaging in protected activity and adverse employment action and that he cannot demonstrate good faith in engaging with the alleged protected activity. (Ulrich Defs.' Mem. 16–24.) As to DeBellis, Defendants argue that he does not allege that he engaged in protected activity...