Gyecsek v. J.P. Hogan Coring & Sawing Corp.

OPINION & ORDER Defendants move to dismiss Plaintiff’s action for unpaid overtime wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York state law for his time loading, unloading, and driving a company truck to and from a construction site. He also alleges that he was unlawfully fired in retaliation for complaining about unpaid overtime to the New York State Department of Labor.Plaintiff was a member of a union, but does not rely on or refer to the union’s collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) in his Complaint. Defendants urge that Plaintiff’s overtime claims are preempted by the Labor Management Relations Act (“LMRA”), because they require the Court to interpret ambiguous provisions of the CBA. Accordingly, Defendants move to dismiss the overtime claims and to decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state law retaliation claim. Defendants also assert that their motion to dismiss could be converted to a motion for summary judgment so the Court can reference the CBA.For the following reasons, the Court DENIES Defendants’ motion to dismiss. It would be premature to rule on a motion for summary judgment, and the Court declines to do so.BACKGROUNDAs alleged in the Complaint, Plaintiff Michael Gyecsek began working for J.P. Hogan Coring & Sawing, Corp. (“J.P. Hogan”) in or about 2011 as a laborer, concrete cutter, and truck driver. (Dkt. 7 (“Compl.”) 6.) During his employment at J.P. Hogan, Plaintiff was a member of Building, Concrete, Excavating and Common Laborers Union Local No. 731. (Id. 8.)On a typical morning, Plaintiff arrived at J.P. Hogan at 5:30 a.m. (Id. 10.) Once he arrived, Plaintiff loaded a company truck with supplies, drove the truck to a gas station, where he fueled the truck and filled a 325 gallon water tank for use at the job site, and drove to the assigned job site. (Id.

10-12.) These morning duties took approximately 1.5 hours. (Id. 13.) Once Plaintiff arrived at the job site, he would work 8 hours cutting concrete and/or performing other assigned tasks. (Id. 14.) At the end of the day, Plaintiff drove the truck back to J.P. Hogan, where he often unloaded the truck and wrote up repair tickets before departing for home in his personal vehicle. (Id.