Gutwirth v. Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge
Gutwirth v. Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Presently before the Court is Plaintiff Rebecca Gutwirth’s motion for leave to file an amended complaint in order to assert claims for unjust enrichment and breach of contract. Defendant Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge and Jeanne M. Gural (hereinafter, “Defendants”) oppose Plaintiffs motion on the basis that federal law preempts the proposed amendments.
Plaintiff filed the initial complaint in this action on January 2, 2014. (See COMPLAINT [Doc. No. 1].) Plaintiff generally alleges in her complaint that Defendants’ payroll policy fails to appropriately compensate employees for otherwise compensable overtime. (See generally id. at ¶¶ 11-15.) Plaintiff further asserts that Defendants purportedly require employees to accept “ ‘comp time’ ” in lieu of overtime compensation. (Id.) Plaintiff also asserts that Defendants subjected her to retaliation and ultimately terminated her employment after Plaintiff made “verbal and writ
In the pending motion, Plaintiff moves to amend her complaint in order to assert two (2) additional claims arising out of Defendants’ overtime policy. With respect to the Plaintiffs proposed unjust enrichment claim, Plaintiffs proposed pleading alleges that:
35. The above allegations are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth.
36. Defendants have been unjustly enriched by requiring Plaintiff to work and not pay her wages for that time worked. WHEREFORE, Becca Gutwirth requests judgment as follows:
(A) Awarding all sums by which Defendant has been unjustly enriched;
(B) Awarding actual and consequential damages;
(C) Awarding counsel fees and costs of suit;
(D) Awarding such other relief as may be fair and equitable[.]
(See Exhibit A [ Doc. No. 12-2], ¶¶ 35-36.) Plaintiffs proposed breach of contract claim similarly alleges that:
37. The above allegations are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth.
38. Plaintiff Becca Gutwirth and Defendants entered into an agreement to work for Defendants at a specific hourly rate. Defendant required Plaintiff to work and failed to pay Plaintiff for time worked.
WHEREFORE, Becca Gutwirth requests judgment as follows:
(A) Awarding all sums due;
(B) Awarding counsel fees;
(C) Awarding costs;
(D) Awarding other such relief as the
Court deems fair and equitable.
(Id.; see also Plaintiffs Reply to Opposition to Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint [Doc. No. 18].)
Plaintiff asserts that the motion should be granted because the amendments “are pled in the alternative to other statutory claims and stand on their own.” (See Plaintiffs Reply to Opposition to Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint [Doc. No. 18], 2.) Defendants, however, generally assert that the FLSA subsumes Plaintiffs state common law claims. (See Brief in Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion to Amend [Doc. No. 14], 3-9.) Defendants also assert that Plaintiff fails to state a breach of contract claim. (See id. at 8.)
“Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a), leave to amend pleadings shall be ‘freely give[n]’ when ‘justice so requires.’ ” Custom Pak Brokerage, LLC v. Dandrea Produce, Inc., No. 13-5592, 2014 WL 988829, at *1 (D.N.J. Feb. 27, 2014) (quoting FED. R. CIV. P. 15(a)(2)). A court may, however, deny a motion to amend on the “ ‘grounds that amendment would cause undue delay or prejudice, or that amendment would be futile.’ ” Winer Family Trust v. Queen, 503 F.3d 319, 330-31 (3d Cir. 2007) (citation omitted). An amendment would be futile if the complaint, as amended, advances a claim or defense that “would fail to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.” Shane v. Fauver, 213 F.3d 113, 115 (3d Cir. 2000). In evaluating futility, courts employ the “ ‘same standard of legal sufficiency as applies under [Federal] Rule [of Civil Procedure] 12(b)(6).’ ” Great W.
Though the Third Circuit has not yet addressed the precise preemption issue presented by the pending motion, certain courts in this District have concluded that the FLSA preempts a plaintiffs common law claims where the common law claims “duplicat[e]” or rely upon “the same facts” as the plaintiffs FLSA claim. Adami v. Cardo Windows, Inc., No. 12-2804, 2014 WL 2586933, at *8 (D.N.J. June 10, 2014) (noting the Third Circuit has not addressed whether the FLSA preempts a state law claim for unjust enrichment); Shakib v. Back Bay Rest. Grp., Inc., No. 10-4564, 2011 WL 4594654, at *5 (D.N.J. Sept. 30, 2011) (noting that “ ‘field’ preemption” applies to state law claims arising out of the same facts asserted in support of the FLSA claims); Kelly v. Borough of Union Beach, No. 10-4124, 2011 WL 551170, at *2 (D.N.J. Feb. 8, 2011) (citing a litany of cases finding that the FLSA preempts state common law claims). In evaluating whether the FLSA preempts the state law claim, however, courts generally examine whether the state law claim rests upon the “same facts and circumstances” as the FLSA claim. See Kronick v. bebe Stores, Inc., No. 07-4514, 2008 WL 4509610, at *4 (D.N.J. Sept. 29, 2008) (citing Johnston v. Davis Sec., Inc., 217 F.Supp.2d 1224, 1227 (D.Utah 2002)). Consequently, where the FLSA “directly cover[s]” the proposed state common law claims or where the state law claims rest “exclusively on [a party’s] alleged failure” to pay overtime, several courts have concluded that such claims are preempted by the FLSA. Kronick, 2008 WL 4509610, at *4; Ramirez v. Gromitsaris, No. 13-2371, 2013 WL 2455966, at *1 (D.N.J. June 3, 2013); see also Moeck v. Gray Supply Corp., No. 03-1950, 2006 WL 42368, at *2 (D.N.J. Jan. 6, 2006) (finding fraud and misrepresentation claims preempted by the FLSA because they were “derived completely from the [plaintiffs’ overtime claims”).
In that regard, the Court follows the rationale set forth in Kronick, Moeck, and Ramirez. In Moeck, plaintiffs asserted fraud and negligent misrepresentation claims (in addition to their FLSA claims), arising out of the fact that defendants purportedly “ ‘materially misrepresented’ ” that employees would be given overtime
To state a cognizable claim for unjust enrichment in accordance with New Jersey law, “ ‘a plaintiff must allege that
The Court next considers the viability of Plaintiffs breach of contract claim. In order to succeed on a breach of contract claim under New Jersey law, a plaintiff must show that (1) a valid contract existed, (2) that the defendant failed to perform under the contract, and (3) that failure to perform caused injury to plaintiff. Red Roof Franchising, LLC v. Patel, 877 F.Supp.2d 124, 131 (D.N.J. 2012). The elements of a valid contract consist of “mutual assent, consideration, legality of the object of the contract, capacity of the parties, and formulation of memorialization”. D'Agostino v. Appliances Buy Phone, Inc., No. 10-05415, 2011 WL 4345674, at *6 (D.N.J. Sept. 15, 2011). Plaintiffs breach of contract claim alleges that Plaintiff and Defendants “entered into an agreement to work ... at a specific hourly rate” and Defendants “failed to pay Plaintiff for time worked.” (See Exhibit A. [Doc. No. 12-2], 6-7.) Consequently, Plaintiffs proposed
Consequently, for the reasons set forth herein, and for good cause shown:
IT IS on this 12th day of August 2014,
ORDERED that Plaintiffs motion for leave to file an amended complaint [Doc. No. 12] shall be, and hereby is, GRANTED to the extent Plaintiff seeks to correct her name and to amend Count One of Plaintiffs initial complaint, and DENIED to the extent Plaintiff seeks to assert breach of contract and unjust enrichment claims; and it is further
ORDERED that Plaintiff shall file the amended complaint in the form attached to Plaintiffs motion and to the extent permitted by this Order, within fourteen (14) days from the date of entry of this Order, and shall serve the second amended complaint in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
. Plaintiff also seeks to amend the complaint in order to correct the spelling of the Plaintiff’s first name and to revise certain allegations set forth in Count One of Plaintiff’s initial complaint. (See, e.g., Plaintiff’s Brief in Support of Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint (hereinafter, "Pl.'s Br.”) [Doc. No. 12-1], 3 ("Plaintiff also seeks to amend the caption[] to reflect the Plaintiff's legal name Becca Gutwirth.”).) Defendants do not oppose this request. Consequently, the Court grants Plaintiff's motion to the extent it seeks to correct Plaintiff's first name and to amend Count One of Plaintiff’s initial complaint.
. The Court álso notes that certain courts have found state law claims not preempted where plaintiffs argue “a theory of recovery that is separate and independent from the obligations imposed by the FLSA” and that would entitle plaintiffs to relief other than that provided by the FLSA. See, e.g., Teoba v. TruGreen Landcare LLC, No. 10-6132, 2013 WL 1560208, at *3 (W.D.N.Y. Apr. 10, 2013) (noting there would be a higher recovery of wages on a successful common law contractual prevailing wage claim than on an FLSA claim because the common law claim relied upon an express agreement to compensate at a rate higher than the FLSA minimum wage); Carter v. Jackson-Madison Cnty. Hosp. Dist., No. 10-01155, 2011 WL 1256625, at *10 (W.D.Tenn. Mar. 31, 2011) (finding that an unjust enrichment claim was independent from an FLSA claim because it did not rest on finding an FLSA violation). For the reasons set forth infra, the Court concludes that Plaintiff’s proposed amendments do not rest upon •a theory of recovery separate and distinct from the recovery set forth under the FLSA. Rather, Plaintiff premises the proposed amendments on facts and circumstances which form the predicate of Plaintiff's FLSA claim-namely, that Defendants' payroll policies fail to provide appropriate overtime compensation.
. Plaintiff contends that denying the amendment would be inappropriate prior to discovery. (See Plaintiff's Reply to Opposition to Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint [Doc. No. 18].) However, preemption constitutes a question of law and Plaintiff has not articulated specific discovery relevant to the issue of preemption. Elassaad v. Independence Air, Inc., 613 F.3d 119, 124 (3d Cir. 2010) (noting that a preemption determination constitutes a question of law). The Court therefore concludes that the status of discovery in this action does not alter the Court's resolution of the pending motion.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Rebecca GUTWIRTH v. WOODFORD CEDAR RUN WILDLIFE REFUGE
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published