Deleon v. Teamsters Local 802, LLC

FELIX DELEON, JR., Plaintiff, v. TEAMSTERS LOCAL 802, LLC; GROCERY HAULERS, INC.; HENRY SADOFSKY;and LYN M. COLLINS, Defendants.

20-CV-24 (RRM) (PK)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

March 29, 2021

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ROSLYNN R. MAUSKOPF, United States District Judge.

Plaintiff Felix DeLeon, Jr., a truck driver, brings this action against his former employer, defendant Grocery Haulers, Inc. ("GHI"); GHI's Human Resources Manager, Lyn M. Collins; his union, Teamsters Local 802 (the "Local"); and a union steward, Henry Sadofsky, principally alleging that GHI engaged in employment discrimination, violated the Family and Medical Leave Act (the "FMLA"), and violated terms of its collective bargaining agreement with the Local and that the Local violated its duty of fair representation. Before the Court are two motions to dismiss: one filed by GHI and Collins (collectively, the "GHI Defendants") and the other filed by the Local and Sadofsky (collectively, the "Local Defendants"). For the reasons set forth below, defendants' motions to dismiss are granted but DeLeon is granted 30 days' leave to amend his complaint with respect to the FMLA interference and retaliation claims and his claim pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(A).

BACKGROUND

The following facts are drawn from DeLeon's complaint (Doc. No. 1) and are assumed to be true for purposes of the Memorandum and Order. DeLeon is a tan-skinned, Hispanic man, who was born in Puerto Rico in 1962. (Compl. at ¶¶ 44-48.) He is a veteran, having served in the United States Army. (Id. at 53-54, 58.) Although DeLeon has "often resided in the City and State of New York," his parents and sister never left Puerto Rico. (Id. at ¶ 15.) His father died there in 2018, (id. at ¶ 50), leaving DeLeon's sister to care for their elderly mother, who has unspecified "serious health conditions," (id. at ¶ 51).

Sometime in 2011 or 2012, DeLeon was employed by GHI, a trucking company with approximately 260 employees. (Id. at ¶¶ 6, 39.) Although the complaint alleges that GHI is "located" in Iselin, New Jersey, (id. at ¶ 17), the pleading also makes it clear that GHI had locations in other states, including New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. DeLeon was working from a New York location during at least some of his six- to seven-year tenure with GHI. (See id. at 2d ¶ 19.)¹

At all times relevant to this action, GHI had a collective bargaining agreement with the Local (the "CBA"), which governed the terms and conditions of its drivers' employment. (Id. at ¶ 6.) Under the terms of that CBA, DeLeon was entitled to "up to 12 weeks of Federal family Medical Leave Benefits," as well as other employee benefits. (Id.) According to the complaint, GHI provided, among other things, "a 401k plan, early cash out, loan, IRA plan." (Id. at ¶ 42.) DeLeon was a member of the Local - which is located in Baldwin, New York - in 2018 and 2019 and, perhaps, at other times prior thereto. (Id. at ¶¶ 6, 40.)

The Incidents

Although the complaint alleges that the claims in this case arise "from incidents during 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019," (id. at ¶ 3), the first incident alleged in the pleadings took place onSeptember 15, 2017. On that date, DeLeon was transporting truckloads of goods from a Greenwich bakery to another location. (Id. at 2d ¶ 14.) Upon returning to the bakery after delivering the first load of goods, DeLeon learned that the second load was delayed. (Id.) After waiting in his truck for approximately two and one-half hours, DeLeon and a co-worker, Jose Cruz, went into the "dispatcher office of Greenwich" to ask about the status of the load. (Id.)

In response to his inquiry, the dispatcher, Robert Lee, first looked at DeLeon, then walked out of the office. (Id.) When he returned, DeLeon repeated the inquiry, explaining that he had been waiting two and one-half hours and was "running out of time" to make the second delivery. (Id.) Lee responded: "[Y]ou ain't going nowhere." (Id.) Although the complaint does not allege that Lee used any gestures or epithets, it claims that Lee's "body language and demeanor was racially hostile and aggressive in a threatening way against Plaintiff." (Id.)

Offended, DeLeon asked Lee "what was his problem." (Id.) After responding, "You don't know me," Lee took a step towards DeLeon and asked what he was "going to do." (Id.) DeLeon attempted to avoid a confrontation by walking out of the office, but Lee followed him out onto the bakery's loading docks. (Id.) The complaint does not allege what, if anything, Lee said but asserts that Lee "wanted to physically fight Plaintiff in the bakery grounds based on Plaintiff's race, national origin, age, and color." (Id.) When DeLeon took a defensive posture, Lee stopped approaching him. (Id.) Cruz then intervened, enabling DeLeon to return to his truck without further incident. (Id.) DeLeon immediately reported the incident to the GHI dispatcher, then went home. (Id.)

The next morning, a GHI employee named Jimmy Stapleton telephoned DeLeon to inform him that he was "suspended indifferently [sic]." (Id.) When DeLeon asked why, Stapleton indicated that he had received an email from Lee. (Id.) Stapleton did not ask forDeLeon's version of events and did not learn that Cruz was a witness to the incident until after he announced the suspension. (Id.)

DeLeon alleges that Stapleton was "completely racially, national origin, age, and color biased against Plaintiff, and other drivers in the past." (Id.) However, the only support the complaint offers for this assertion are allegations that Stapleton and "showed racially, national origin, age, and color aggressive behavior towards drivers and argued mostly to minority drivers" and "voiced at Plaintiff" on at least a couple of occasions. (Id.) The complaint provides an example of an instance in which Stapleton yelled at DeLeon after DeLeon followed up on a request to be transferred to Pennsylvania, saying, "Yeah you get your transfer but you're gonna be in the bottom." (Id. at 2d ¶ 36.) Although DeLeon alleges that Stapleton's "outburst" made him feel "undignified," the complaint acknowledges that "Stapleton has a history of yelling at his staffers and drivers." (Id.)

The complaint does not allege that DeLeon was actually suspended or for how long. To the contrary, the pleading implies that Stapleton eventually listened to DeLeon's version of events by stating: "It was because Plaintiff had a witness that Stapleton heard Plaintiff's story." (Id. at 2d ¶ 14.) The complaint also implies that DeLeon complained to Collins, GHI's Human Resources manager, about Lee's "unprofessional and threatening behavior," and sent her written statements authored both by Cruz and DeLeon himself. (Id.) Collins never responded and Lee "continued to work without and restriction or reprimand for some time." (Id.)

Sometime after this incident, DeLeon requested a transfer to Pennsylvania. According to the complaint, DeLeon first asked Stapleton for a transfer early in 2018. (Id. at 2d ¶ 36.) Stapleton indicated that it would be possible to transfer to the Lehigh terminal, but DeLeon insisted that he wanted to transfer to GHI's Hazleton, Pennsylvania, location. (Id.) DeLeonfollowed up on this request in July 2018 when he encountered Stapleton at the Bimbo Bakeries loading dock in Lehigh Valley, prompting the outburst described above. (Id.) A short time after his outburst, Stapleton said he would talk with DeLeon "some other time," but he never did. (Id.)

In mid-November 2018, DeLeon went over Stapleton's head and asked GHI's Chief Executive Officer, Marisol, for a transfer to Hazleton. (Id. at 2d ¶ 17.) When Marisol inquired as to when he would be ready to start there, DeLeon stated that he would be moving at the end of December and ready to work by mid-January 2019. (Id.) Noting that DeLeon was "in good standing," Marisol indicated a willingness to accommodate DeLeon's request. (Id.) But Marisol also said she needed discuss the transfer with GHI's owner. (Id.)

When DeLeon had not received word regarding his transfer by mid-December 2018, DeLeon began telephoning Marisol. (Id. at 2d ¶ 18.) Marisol told him the owner was aware of his request but was still considering it. (Id.) On December 17, 2018, Marisol prompted DeLeon to make his request directly to the owner at a company Christmas party. (Id.) The owner, Mark Jacobson, listened to DeLeon request for a transfer and said he "was going to have it." (Id.) DeLeon told Jacobson that he was going to move to Wilkes-Barre, a 20-minute drive from Hazleton, in late December. (Id.)

Later that month, Jacobson asked DeLeon if he was willing to work out of Pittston, Pennsylvania. (Id.) DeLeon replied that Pittston would be even better than Hazleton. (Id.) DeLeon did not speak with Jacobson again after this "short conversation." (Id.) On December 29, 2018, DeLeon moved to Wilkes-Barre. (Id.) He took the first of his three weeks of vacation to settle into his new apartment. (Id. at 2d ¶ 19.) However, his transfer had yet to be approvedwhen his vacation ended on January 6, 2019. (Id.) As a result, he was forced to commute from Wilkes-Barre to New York. (Id.)

Throughout January and into February, DeLeon kept asking when he would be transferred, only to be told that his New York supervisor, Frank Ursocale, was not ready to move him yet. (Id.) During the five weeks beginning January 6, 2019, DeLeon called in sick four times: January 20 and 21, and February 3 and 4. (Id. at 2d ¶ 35.) The complaint implies that at least some of these sick days were prompted by heavy snow in Wilkes-Barre and the Pocono Mountains which closed roads and made driving dangerous. (Id.)

While driving to work on the morning of February 14, 2019, DeLeon received a call informing him that his sister had died. (Id. at 2d ¶ 21.) DeLeon continued into New York and, after informing his supervisor of his sister's death, proceeded to work that day. (Id.) That evening, he told the dispatcher that he...