`
`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
`
`JESSICA APPLEBY,
`
`v.
`
`IORA HEALTH, INC.,
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`Defendant.
`
`COMPLAINT
`
`JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
`
`Civil Action No. 6:21-cv-00973 (LEK/ATB)
`
`Plaintiff Jessica Appleby, by and through her attorneys, Tully Rinckey PLLC, sets forth
`
`the following as and for the complaint against Defendant Iora Health, Inc.:
`
`NATURE OF ACTION
`
`1. This action is brought pursuant to the Equal Pay Act 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., NY Labor
`
`Law Chapter 31, Article 6, § 190 et seq., and New York Executive Law § 290 et seq. The
`
`jurisdiction of this Court is invoked to secure protection of and redress deprivation of
`
`rights guaranteed by federal and state laws, which rights provide for injunctive and other
`
`relief for illegal discrimination and retaliation in employment.
`
`JURISDICTION
`
`2. Jurisdiction is proper before this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331, and 29 U.S.C. §
`
`201 et seq.
`
`3. This Court has supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiff’s state law claims under 28 U.S.C.
`
`§ 1367 and the New York State Human Rights Law, Article 15, § 290, et seq. and NY
`
`Labor Law Chapter 31, Article 6, § 190 et seq.
`
`1
`
`
`
`Case 6:21-cv-00973-LEK-ATB Document 1 Filed 08/30/21 Page 2 of 7
`
`VENUE
`
`4. Venue is proper by virtue of 28 U.S.C. § 1391, in that the events giving rise to the claims
`
`in this action arose in this judicial district.
`
`PARTIES
`
`5. At all times relevant herein, Jessica Appleby (hereinafter, the “Plaintiff”) was and remains
`
`a natural person and currently resides in the County of Otsego, State of New York.
`
`6. At all times relevant herein, Iora Health, Inc. (hereinafter, the “Defendant”) was and
`
`remains a Foreign Business Corporation registered with the New York State Department
`
`of State, DOS ID 4303149, County of Kings, State of New York.
`
`FACTUAL BACKGROUND
`
`7. Plaintiff is female.
`
`8. Since on or around April 2021, Defendant has employed Plaintiff as a Data Engineer.
`
`9. At all times relevant herein, Plaintiff was a salaried employee earning $105,000 per year.
`
`10. On or about July 20, 2021, Plaintiff learned that her position, along with another female
`
`employee, was coded as a Level 3 Senior BI Engineer.
`
`11. On or about July 20, 2021, Plaintiff learned that all of her male colleagues’ positions were
`
`coded as Level 5 Staff Engineers.
`
`12. Upon information and belief, Plaintiff’s male colleagues were hired to the same job
`
`position as was Plaintiff.
`
`13. Upon information and belief, the positions Plaintiff and her male colleagues held were the
`
`same job title and duties, but were internally coded differently.
`
`
`
`2
`
`
`
`Case 6:21-cv-00973-LEK-ATB Document 1 Filed 08/30/21 Page 3 of 7
`
`14. Plaintiff’s male colleagues were compensated significantly more than Plaintiff,
`
`approximately $35,000 to $50,000 per year more.
`
`15. Plaintiff has comparable if not superior qualifications than her male colleagues.
`
`16. On or about July 22, 2021, Plaintiff met with her immediate supervisor, Idan Ben-Arieh,
`
`regarding this pay discrepancy.
`
`17. Mr. Ben-Arieh informed Plaintiff that he likes to “start people lower” to see if they have
`
`the skills they seem to have on paper. Upon information and belief, this was not done for
`
`Plaintiff’s male colleagues, who started as Level 5 Staff Engineers.
`
`18. Defendant is in the middle of a planned merger with 1Life Healthcare, Inc.
`
`19. On August 3, 2021, Plaintiff met with Mr. Ben-Arieh and Clark Curtis from Human
`
`Resources. Plaintiff requested that her compensation be raised to match that of her similarly
`
`situated male colleagues. Mr. Curtis informed her that there was no way to honor this
`
`request given the position of the merger.
`
`20. At this time, Plaintiff is still not being compensated fairly in comparison to her similarly
`
`situated male colleagues.
`
`AS AND FOR A FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION
`AGAINST THE DEFENDANT
`Violation of the Equal Pay Act 29 U.S.C. § 201 et. seq.
`
`21. Plaintiff repeats and realleges all previous allegations set forth in Paragraphs 1 through 20.
`
`22. Defendant is an “employer” as defined by 29 U.S.C. § 203(d).
`
`23. Plaintiff is an employee of Defendant, engaged in commerce and/or is employed in an
`
`enterprise engaged in commerce.
`
`24. Plaintiff is female.
`
`
`
`3
`
`
`
`Case 6:21-cv-00973-LEK-ATB Document 1 Filed 08/30/21 Page 4 of 7
`
`25. Defendant has discriminated between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to
`
`employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which they pay wages to
`
`employees of the opposite sex.
`
`26. Plaintiff and her male colleagues perform equal work on jobs the performance of which
`
`requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility.
`
`27. Plaintiff and her male colleagues perform duties under similar working conditions.
`
`28. Such a differential is not based on a seniority system, a merit system, a quantity or quality
`
`of production system, or any other factor other than sex.
`
`29. Defendant caused, attempted to cause, contributed to, or caused the continuation of the
`
`wage rate discrimination based on sex in violation of the Equal Pay Act. Moreover,
`
`Defendant willfully violated the Equal Pay Act by intentionally paying Plaintiff less than
`
`similarly situated or less qualified male employees.
`
`30. As a direct and proximate result of the Defendant’s actions, Plaintiff has been damaged in
`
`an amount to be determined by a jury at the time of trial, including damages in the amount
`
`of that she was underpaid based on her gender, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees and
`
`costs.
`
`AS AND FOR A SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION
`AGAINST THE DEFENDANT
`Violation of NY Labor Law Chapter 31, Article 6, § 190 et seq.
`
`
`31. Plaintiff repeats and realleges all previous allegations set forth in Paragraphs 1 through 30.
`
`32. Defendant is an “Employer” as defined in NY Lab. Law § 190.
`
`33. Plaintiff is an employee of Defendant.
`
`34. Plaintiff is female.
`
`
`
`4
`
`
`
`Case 6:21-cv-00973-LEK-ATB Document 1 Filed 08/30/21 Page 5 of 7
`
`35. Defendant paid Plaintiff a wage at a rate less than the rate at which other employees outside
`
`of Plaintiff’s protected class was paid for equal work on a job the performance of which
`
`requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which is performed under similar
`
`working conditions.
`
`36. Defendant paid Plaintiff a wage at a rate less than the rate at which other employees outside
`
`of Plaintiff’s protected class was paid for substantially similar work, when viewed as a
`
`composite of skill, effort, and responsibility, and performed under similar working
`
`conditions.
`
`37. Such a differential is not based on a seniority system, a merit system, a quantity or quality
`
`of production system, or any other bona fide factor.
`
`38. Defendant caused, attempted to cause, contributed to, or caused the continuation of, the
`
`wage rate discrimination based on sex in violation of the New York Labor Law. Moreover,
`
`Defendant willfully violated the New York Labor Law by intentionally paying Plaintiff
`
`less than similarly situated or less qualified male employees.
`
`39. As a direct and proximate result of the Defendant’s actions, Plaintiff has been damaged in
`
`an amount to be determined by a jury at the time of trial, including damages in the amount
`
`of that she was underpaid based on her gender, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees and
`
`costs.
`
`AS AND FOR A THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION
` AGAINST THE DEFENDANT
`Violation of New York Executive Law § 290 et. seq.
`
`40. Plaintiff repeats and realleges all previous allegations set forth in Paragraphs 1 through 39.
`
`41. Defendant constitutes an “employer” as defined in N.Y. Exec. Law § 292.
`
`42. Plaintiff is an employee of Defendant.
`
`
`
`5
`
`
`
`Case 6:21-cv-00973-LEK-ATB Document 1 Filed 08/30/21 Page 6 of 7
`
`43. Plaintiff is female.
`
`44. Defendant subjected Plaintiff to discrimination in the terms, conditions, and privileges of
`
`employment in violation of the New York State Executive Law, including gender-based
`
`harassment and pay discrimination.
`
`45. Defendant have treated Plaintiff differently from and less preferably than male employees.
`
`46. Plaintiff’s sex has been a determining factor in Defendant’s subjecting of Plaintiff to
`
`discrimination in the terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.
`
`47. By reason of the continuous nature of Defendant’s discriminatory conduct, Plaintiff is
`
`entitled to the application of the continuing violation doctrine to the unlawful acts alleged
`
`herein.
`
`48. Defendant’s actions amount to willful or wanton negligence, and/or recklessness, and/or
`
`exhibit a conscious disregard for the rights of Plaintiff, and/or constitute conduct so
`
`reckless as to amount to such disregard. Accordingly, Plaintiff is entitled to punitive
`
`damages.
`
`49. As a direct and proximate result of Defendant’s unlawful conduct, Plaintiff has suffered
`
`and will continue to suffer harm, including but not limited to lost earnings, lost benefits,
`
`lost future employment opportunities, humiliation, embarrassment, reputational harm,
`
`emotional and physical distress, mental anguish, and other economic damages and non-
`
`economic damages.
`
`50. As a direct and proximate result of Defendant’s unlawful conduct, Plaintiff is entitled to
`
`all remedies available for violations of the New York State Executive Law, including back
`
`pay, front pay, compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, costs, and other
`
`appropriate relief.
`
`
`
`6
`
`
`
`Case 6:21-cv-00973-LEK-ATB Document 1 Filed 08/30/21 Page 7 of 7
`
`51. As a direct and proximate result of the Defendant’s actions, Plaintiff has been damaged in
`
`an amount to be determined by a jury at the time of trial.
`
`PRAYER FOR RELIEF
`
`
`
`WHEREFORE Plaintiff prays that this Court:
`
`A. Award Plaintiff all of her damages under applicable law, including back pay, front pay,
`
`compensatory damages, liquidated damages, and punitive damages;
`
`B. Award Plaintiff all attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses available under law;
`
`C. Award Plaintiff all pre-judgment interest and post-judgment interest available under law;
`
`and
`
`D. Award Plaintiff such additional and further relief as this Court may deem just and proper.
`
`JURY DEMAND
`Pursuant to the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution and Rule 38 of the
`
`
`
`Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, trial by jury on all issues is demanded.
`
`Dated: August 30, 2021
`
`
`Albany, New York
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`By her attorneys:
`
`
`Adam P. Grogan, Esq.
`Associate
`NDNY No. 703011
`TULLY RINCKEY PLLC
`441 New Karner Road
`Albany, NY 12205
`Tel. (518) 218-7100
`Fax. (518) 218-0496
`Email: agrogan@tullylegal.com
`Counsel for Plaintiff
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`7
`
`