Cordero v. Voltaire, LLC

2013 WL 6415667 (2013)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Ps sued their former employer, d, a construction company, to recover unpaid overtime wages allegedly due under the Fair Labor Standards Act ('FLSA'), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. Ps allege that D willfully failed to pay them at least one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for overtime hours worked as is required under the FLSA. D alleges that Ps cannot recover under the FLSA, or that any recovery should be reduced because Ps have falsified and inflated the hours they allegedly worked. D alleges that 'Ps and numerous other contractors working at D's job sites would provide their time to Cordero (P) who would then accumulate that time and provide it to D. D claims that Cordero (P) was involved in a scheme to defraud and steal from D which included falsifying and inflating the time they claimed to work. D also alleges that Ps took valuable materials and equipment from it. D has asserted the affirmative defenses of statute of limitations, unclean hands, offset, good-faith and estoppel, as well as counterclaims for fraud, theft, conversion, and breach of fiduciary duty. Ps have each moved to dismiss the counterclaims and strike the affirmative defenses, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), 12(b)(6) and 12(f). Ps argue that D's counterclaims are permissive, and fail to assert an independent basis for federal court jurisdiction and, therefore, must be dismissed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12 (b)(1). Ps argue that the affirmative defenses of offset, unclean hands, estoppel, and good-faith belief of acting in accord with the FLSA should all be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6) or 12(f).