Daniel Barahona v. Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York addresses Defendants’ motion for summary judgment in Daniel Barahona’s action alleging unpaid overtime under the FLSA and NYLL, NYLL pay-frequency violations, and age discrimination under the NYSHRL. The court grants summary judgment on several abandoned claims and against David Leibtag, but denies summary judgment on the unpaid-overtime claims, Ari Solomon’s employer status, willfulness, the age-discrimination claim, and the NYLL Section 191 claim because material factual disputes remain.

Holdings

1. Summary judgment was denied because Barahona presented sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could infer that he worked uncompensated overtime and because the parties disputed the accuracy of defendants' time records.
2. Summary judgment was denied on whether Ari Solomon was an employer under the FLSA and NYLL.
3. Summary judgment was granted to defendants on willfulness because Barahona offered no evidence that defendants knew their conduct violated the FLSA or recklessly disregarded that possibility.
4. Summary judgment was denied on Barahona's NYSHRL age-discrimination claim because he established a prima facie case and the conflicting testimony about why he was not recalled presented a credibility issue for the jury.
5. Summary judgment was granted on the NYLL § 191 claim because HAFTR qualified as a nonprofit organization exempt from the weekly-pay requirement for manual workers.
6. The minimum-wage claims, NYLL § 195(1) and § 195(3) claims, and all claims against David Leibtag were dismissed with prejudice because Barahona conceded or abandoned them.

Questions Presented

1. Whether defendants were entitled to summary judgment on Barahona's FLSA and NYLL unpaid-overtime claims.
2. Whether Ari Solomon could be considered an employer under the FLSA and NYLL.
3. Whether the evidence supported a finding that any FLSA violation was willful.
4. Whether Barahona's NYSHRL age-discrimination claim could proceed on summary judgment.
5. Whether HAFTR was a nonprofit organization exempt from the NYLL § 191 weekly-pay requirement.
6. Whether Barahona's abandoned minimum-wage and NYLL § 195 claims and his claims against David Leibtag should be dismissed.

Disposition

other