Topol v. Hcl America, Inc. et al

MOTION to dismiss for failure to state a claim

M.D. Fla.April 18, 2017

1 BlueRock Legal, P.A. • 10800 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 410, Miami, Florida 33161 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA CASE NO. 6:17-cv-91-ORL-37-TBS JEFFREY TOPOL, Plaintiff, v. HCL AMERICA, INC., WALT DISNEY PARKS AND RESORTS WORLDWIDE, INC. and DONALD J. ROSS, Defendants, _____________________________________/ HCL AMERICA, INC. Third-Party Plaintiff, v. ARTECH INFORMATION SYSTEMS, LLC, and IT STAFFING, INC. Third-Party Defendants. _____________________________________/ MOTION TO DISMISS COUNT II OF THIRD-PARTY COMPLAINT BY IT STAFFING, INC. Third-Party Defendant IT Staffing, Inc. (“IT Staffing”), by and through its undersigned counsel, BlueRock Legal, P.A., hereby files and serves this Motion to Dismiss Count II of Third- Party Complaint. Case 6:17-cv-00091-PGB-KRS Document 45 Filed 04/18/17 Page 1 of 6 PageID 161 2 BlueRock Legal, P.A. • 10800 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 410, Miami, Florida 33161 A. Preliminary Statement This is an employment-related case. Plaintiff Jeffrey Topol is seeking relief under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) for allegedly unpaid overtime wages. Plaintiff is (correctly) not seeking relief against IT Staffing. The facts alleged in the Third-Party Complaint [D.E. 35] describe in unnecessary detail the tangled procedural history of this lawsuit. [D.E. 35 ¶¶ 15-23] The only claim against IT Staffing is for “common law indemnification.” [D.E. 35, Count II, p. 6] B. There is no cognizable claim for common law indemnity. Third-Party Plaintiff’s claim against IT Staffing should be dismissed for failure to state a claim. There is no recognized claim of contribution or indemnity in FLSA cases. See Herman v. RSR Sec. Services Ltd., 172 F.3d 132, 144 (2d Cir. 1999) (“we hold that there is no right to contribution or indemnification for employers held liable under the FLSA”); McDougal v. G&S Tobacco Dealers, LLC, 712 F. Supp. 2d 488, 496 (N.D. W.Va. 2010) (“A number of cases have addressed the issue of whether there is a right to contribution or indemnification for employers held liable under the FLSA and held there is none.”); Gustafson v. Bell Atl. Corp., 171 F. Supp. 2d 311, 328 (“We therefore hold that the Company has no right to indemnification for damages assessed under the FLSA.”); Cordova v. FedEx Ground Package Sys., 104 F. Supp. 3d 1119, 1130 (D. Or. 2015) (same); Vause v. Fla. Blood Servs’, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146673 (N.D. Fla. 2010) (no implied right of indemnity or contribution under FLSA). Courts in the Middle District of Florida have gone even further. “[I]ndemnification claims relating to FLSA liability are contrary to public policy and the legislative intent of the FLSA.” NSP Hospitality, LLC v. Janki I, Inc., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74027 (M.D. Fla. 2016). See also, Dobbins v. Scriptfleet, Inc., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83855 (M.D. Fla. 2012). Case 6:17-cv-00091-PGB-KRS Document 45 Filed 04/18/17 Page 2 of 6 PageID 162 3 BlueRock Legal, P.A. • 10800 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 410, Miami, Florida 33161 Thus, there is no right of indemnity against another business entity. Not surprisingly, there is no right to indemnity against an individual under the FLSA. See LeCompte v. Chrystler Credit Corp., 780 F.2d 1260, 1264 (5th Cir. 1986) (holding that employer may not seek indemnity from employees for FLSA violations); Quintana v. Explorer Enterprises, Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54683, at *2 (S.D. Fla. 2010) (same); Martin v. Gingerbread House, 977 F.2d 1405, 1405–06 (10th Cir. 1992) (same); Villareal v. El Chile, Inc., 601 F. Supp. 2d 1011, 1015–16 (N.D. Ill. 2009) (same). At least one District Court in the Eleventh Circuit has dismissed a complaint on facts similar to the present case. In Lee v. Krystal Co., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14567 (S.D. Ala., Feb. 4, 2013), the plaintiff filed a claim for alleged failure to pay overtime wages under the FLSA and named two defendants, Krystal and Elite Security. Id. at *2. Krystal filed a crossclaim against Elite Security for “common-law indemnity.” Id. at *8. The court dismissed Krystal’s crossclaim. Id. at *15. The court noted that “persuasive federal authorities are legion for the proposition that common-law indemnity or contribution remedies cannot be engrafted onto an FLSA case . . . .” Id. at *8. The court found that “the text of the FLSA is comprehensive, yet it fails to provide for indemnification or contribution” and that “[a]llowing employers such as Krystal to shirk their FLSA obligations on the theory that someone else will foot the bill . . . would be antithetical to the compelling public policy considerations animating the FLSA.” Id. at *12. Third-Party Plaintiff HCL America, Inc., has failed to state a claim for relief in the present case. There is no allegation of any violation of the FLSA against IT Staffing. There is no allegation of any breach of contract against IT Staffing. The only claim against IT Staffing is for common law indemnity, a claim that has been dismissed in the “legion” of federal cases that have addressed Case 6:17-cv-00091-PGB-KRS Document 45 Filed 04/18/17 Page 3 of 6 PageID 163 4 BlueRock Legal, P.A. • 10800 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 410, Miami, Florida 33161 the issue. There is no right to indemnity for liability under the FLSA. Count II of the Third-Party Complaint should be dismissed. WHEREFORE, for each of the foregoing reasons, Third-Party Defendant IT Staffing, Inc., respectfully requests that the claim in Count II of the Third-Party Complaint [D.E. 35] be dismissed in its entirety. BLUEROCK LEGAL, P.A. Counsel for Third-Party Defendant IT Staffing, Inc. 10800 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 410 Miami, FL 33161 Phone: (305) 981-4300 Fax: (305) 981-4304 Email: fhenry@bluerocklegal.com By: /s/ Frank H. Henry Frank H. Henry Florida Bar No. 956554 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF system sending a notice of electronic filing to counsel on the attached service list on April 18, 2017. /s/ Frank H. Henry Frank H. Henry Case 6:17-cv-00091-PGB-KRS Document 45 Filed 04/18/17 Page 4 of 6 PageID 164 5 BlueRock Legal, P.A. • 10800 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 410, Miami, Florida 33161 Service List Patrick M. Muldowney Florida Bar No. 0978396 Baker & Hostetler LLP 200 South Orange Ave. SunTrust Center, Suite 2300 Orlando, FL 32802 E-mail: pmuldowney@bakerlaw.com Tel: (407) 649-4000 Fax: (407) 841-0168 Attorney for HCL America, Inc. Mary Caroline Miller Florida Bar No. 0125712 Baker & Hostetler LLP 200 South Orange Ave. SunTrust Center, Suite 2300 Orlando, FL 32802 E-mail: mcmiller@bakerlaw.com Tel: (407) 649-4000 Fax: (407) 841-0168 Attorney for HCL America, Inc Brandon J. Hill Florida Bar No. 0037061 Wenzel Fenton Cabassa, P.A. 1110 N. Florida Ave. Suite 300 Tampa, FL 33602 Email: bhill@wfclaw.com Main Tel: (813) 224-0431 Direct Tel: (813) 337-7992 Fax: (813) 229-8712 Attorney for Plaintiff Mary Ruth Houston Florida Bar No. 834440 Shutts & Bowen LLP 300 South Orange Ave., Suite 1000 Orlando, FL 32801 Email: mhouston@shutts.com Tel: (407) 423-3200 Fax: (407) 425-8316 Attorney for Walt Disney Parks and Donald J. Ross Case 6:17-cv-00091-PGB-KRS Document 45 Filed 04/18/17 Page 5 of 6 PageID 165 6 BlueRock Legal, P.A. • 10800 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 410, Miami, Florida 33161 Glennys Ortega Rubin Florida Bar No. 0556361 Shutts & Bowen LLP 300 South Orange Ave., Suite 1000 Orlando, FL 32801 Email: grubin@shutts.com Tel: (407) 423-3200 Fax: (407) 425-8316 Attorney for Walt Disney Parks and Donald J. Ross Frank H. Henry (FBN 956554) BLUEROCK LEGAL, P.A. 10800 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 410 Miami, Florida 33161 Telephone: (305) 981-4300 Facsimile: (305) 981-4304 Email: fhenry@bluerocklegal.com Attorney for Third-Party Defendant IT Staffing, Inc. Daniel Eric Gonzalez (FBN 118696) BLUEROCK LEGAL, P.A. 10800 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 410 Miami, Florida 33161 Telephone: (305) 981-4300 Facsimile: (305) 981-4304 Email: dgonzalez@bluerocklegal.com Attorney for Third-Party Defendant IT Staffing, Inc. Case 6:17-cv-00091-PGB-KRS Document 45 Filed 04/18/17 Page 6 of 6 PageID 166