Senne Et Al. V. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball Et Al. (Dott, Johnson Intervention)
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Case 3:14-cv-00608-JCS Document 883 Filed 02/23/21 Page 1 of 426 1 STEPHEN M. TILLERY (pro hac vice) [email protected] 2 GARRETT R. BROSHUIS (Bar No. 329924)(pro hac vice) [email protected] 3 ROBERT L. KING (Bar No. 331709)(pro hac vice) [email protected] 4 JAMIE L. BOYER (pro hac vice) [email protected] 5 KOREIN TILLERY, LLC 505 North 7th Street, Suite 3600 6 St. Louis, MO 63101 Telephone: (314) 241-4844 7 Facsimile: (314) 241-3525 8 CLIFFORD H. PEARSON (Bar No. 108523) 9 [email protected] DANIEL L. WARSHAW (Bar No. 185365) 10 [email protected] BOBBY POUYA (Bar No. 245527) 11 [email protected] THOMAS J. NOLAN (Bar No. 66992) BENJAMIN E. SHIFTAN (Bar No. 26576) 12 [email protected] [email protected] PEARSON, SIMON & WARSHAW, LLP PEARSON, SIMON & WARSHAW, LLP 13 15165 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 400 350 Sansome Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Sherman Oaks, CA 91404 14 Telephone: (818) 788-8300 Telephone: (415) 433-9000 Facsimile: (818) 788-8104 Facsimile: (415) 433-9008 15 Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Class Counsel 16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 17 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 18 AARON SENNE, et al., Individually and on CASE NO. 3:14-cv-00608-JCS (consolidated 19 Behalf of All Those Similarly Situated; with 3:14-cv-03289-JCS) 20 Plaintiffs, CLASS ACTION 21 vs. COMPLAINT IN INTERVENTION FOR 22 OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF VIOLATIONS OF FEDERAL AND BASEBALL, an unincorporated association STATE WAGE AND HOUR LAWS 23 doing business as MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, et al.; JURY TRIAL DEMANDED 24 25 Defendants. 26 27 28 861070.1 COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS OF FEDERAL AND STATE WAGE AND HOUR LAWS Case 3:14-cv-00608-JCS Document 883 Filed 02/23/21 Page 2 of 426 1 1. Aaron Dott and Kyle Johnson (the “intervenors”) hereby file this class action Complaint in 2 Intervention for violation of wage and hour laws. 3 2. The intervenors re-allege and incorporate by reference all paragraphs and all allegations 4 made in the operative Second Consolidated Amended Complaint (SCAC) in this case. Dkt. 382. The 5 SCAC is attached as Exhibit 1 to this Complaint in Intervention. The intervenors further allege the 6 following facts in support of their claims. 7 THE INTERVENING MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS 8 3. Aaron Dott. Plaintiff and representative plaintiff Aaron Dott is a former minor leaguer 9 who worked in the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization from 2009 to 2011, and the New York Yankees’ 10 organization from 2011 to 2015. Mr. Dott is a covered employee within the meaning of the Fair 11 Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the applicable state wage and hour laws. He asserts claims under LLP 12 the FLSA, New York, and Florida law as alleged in the SCAC. 13 4. The Tampa Bay Rays selected Aaron Dott in the 31st round of the 2009 Rule 4 draft. He 14 signed his UPC in the summer of 2009. 15 5. Mr. Dott worked the 2009 season at the Rays’ affiliate in New York, and the 2010 season at 16 their complex in Florida and at their affiliate in Kentucky. He was released by the Rays in March of 17 2011. SHERMAN OAKS, CALIFORNIA 91403 CALIFORNIA OAKS, SHERMAN PEARSON, SIMON WARSHAW, & 15165 VENTURA BOULEVARD, SUITE 400 18 6. After being released by the Rays, he signed a UPC with the New York Yankees in 2011. He 19 worked the 2011 season at their affiliate in Charleston; the 2012 season at their affiliate in Tampa; the 20 2013 and 2014 seasons at their affiliate in Trenton; and the 2015 seasons at their complex in Florida in 21 extended spring training and for their Gulf Coast League affiliate. The Yankees granted Mr. Dott free 22 agency in November of 2015. 23 7. Mr. Dott believes he routinely worked more than 50 hours per week during the seasons. 24 8. He worked several spring trainings for the Rays and Yankees, and he did not earn a salary 25 for this work, even though he often worked full workdays, 7 days per week. When working at 26 extended spring training, he worked similar hours to those in spring training. 27 28 861070.1 1 COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS OF FEDERAL AND STATE WAGE AND HOUR LAWS Case 3:14-cv-00608-JCS Document 883 Filed 02/23/21 Page 3 of 426 1 9. Mr. Dott performed work for the Rays and Yankees during the off-seasons, usually in 2 Wisconsin. He received off-season training manuals, and he performed significant off-season work 3 without being paid. 4 10. Mr. Dott was only paid his salary during the season, and he believes he earned only a few 5 thousand dollars in salary during his first season. His salary remained low throughout his career. 6 11. To summarize, Mr. Dott, like all Class Members working under the direction of MLB, the 7 Franchises, and Mr. Selig, worked for less than minimum wage, received no overtime despite routinely 8 working overtime hours, and often worked for no pay. 9 12. Kyle Johnson. Plaintiff and representative plaintiff Kyle Johnson is a current minor 10 leaguer who has worked in the New York Mets organization since 2013. From 2012 to 2013, he 11 worked in the Los Angeles Angels organization. Mr. Johnson is a covered employee within the LLP 12 meaning of the FLSA and the applicable state wage and hour laws. He asserts claims under the FLSA, 13 New York, and Florida law as alleged in the SCAC. 14 13. Mr. Johnson’s primary objective in bringing this lawsuit is to obtain injunctive relief on 15 behalf of current and future minor leaguers and stop Defendants from continuing to engage in their 16 unlawful practices. Thus, he seeks to represent an injunctive class of minor leaguers pursuant to Rule 17 23(b)(2) since Defendants have acted or refused to act on grounds that apply generally to the class, SHERMAN OAKS, CALIFORNIA 91403 CALIFORNIA OAKS, SHERMAN PEARSON, SIMON WARSHAW, & 15165 VENTURA BOULEVARD, SUITE 400 18 making injunctive relief appropriate to the class as a whole. 19 14. The Angels selected Mr. Johnson in the 25th round of the 2012 Rule 4 draft, and he 20 signed his UPC that summer. 21 15. Mr. Johnson worked the 2012 season at the Angels’ affiliate in Utah, and the 2013 season 22 at their affiliate in Iowa. The Angels traded him to the Mets during the summer of 2013. 23 16. Mr. Johnson worked the rest of the 2013 season at the Mets’ affiliates in Georgia and Port 24 St. Lucie, Florida; he worked the 2014 season at their affiliate in Binghamton, New York; he worked 25 the 2015 season at their affiliate in Las Vegas, and at their site in Florida and affiliate in Port St. Lucie; 26 and the 2016 season at their affiliates in Binghamton and Las Vegas. 27 17. Mr. Johnson believes he routinely works more than 50 hours per week during the seasons. 28 861070.1 2 COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS OF FEDERAL AND STATE WAGE AND HOUR LAWS Case 3:14-cv-00608-JCS Document 883 Filed 02/23/21 Page 4 of 426 1 18. He has worked several spring trainings for the Angels and Mets, and he did not earn a 2 salary for this work, even though he often worked full workdays, 7 days per week. 3 19. Mr. Johnson performed work for the Angels and Mets during the off-seasons, usually in 4 Idaho. He received off-season training manuals, and he performed significant off-season work 5 without being paid. 6 20. Mr. Johnson is only paid his salary during the season, and he believes he earned only a few 7 thousand dollars in salary during his first season. His salary has remained low throughout his career. 8 21. To summarize, Mr. Johnson, like all Class Members working under the direction of MLB, 9 the Franchises, and Mr. Selig, worked for less than minimum wage, received no overtime despite 10 routinely working overtime hours, and often worked for no pay. 11 PRAYER FOR RELIEF LLP 12 WHEREFORE, the intervenors, on their own and on behalf of all other similarly situated 13 persons, seek the following relief: 14 • All relief specified in the prayer for relief in the operative complaint, Dkt. 382 and 15 attached as Exhibit 1. 16 • Such other relief as this Court shall deem just and proper. 17 DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL SHERMAN OAKS, CALIFORNIA 91403 CALIFORNIA OAKS, SHERMAN PEARSON, SIMON WARSHAW, & 15165 VENTURA BOULEVARD, SUITE 400 18 Pursuant to Rule 38(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the intervenors demand a jury 19 trial as to all issues triable by a jury. 20 21 22 Dated: February 23, 2021 23 /s/ Garrett R. Broshuis 24 25 26 27 28 861070.1 3 COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS OF FEDERAL AND STATE WAGE AND HOUR LAWS Case 3:14-cv-00608-JCS Document 883 Filed 02/23/21 Page 5 of 426 1 PEARSON, SIMON & WARSHAW, LLP CLIFFORD H. PEARSON 2 THOMAS J. NOLAN DANIEL L. WARSHAW 3 BOBBY POUYA 4 BENJAMIN E. SHIFTAN MICHAEL H. PEARSON 5 KOREIN TILLERY, LLC 6 STEPHEN M. TILLERY (pro hac vice) ROBERT KING 7 GARRETT R. BROSHUIS JAMIE BOYER 8 9 Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Class Counsel 10 11 LLP 12 13 14 15 16 17 SHERMAN OAKS, CALIFORNIA 91403 CALIFORNIA OAKS, SHERMAN PEARSON, SIMON WARSHAW, & 15165 VENTURA BOULEVARD, SUITE 400 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 861070.1 4 COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS OF FEDERAL AND STATE WAGE AND HOUR LAWS Case 3:14-cv-00608-JCS Document 883 Filed 02/23/21 Page 6 of 426 1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 2 I hereby certify that on February 23, 2021, I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk 3 of the Court using the CM/ECF system, which will send notification of such filing to all attorneys of 4 record registered for electronic filing.