Where (1) a plaintiff brought suit alleging that the defendants misclassified her as an independent contractor and (2) the defendants have filed an indemnity counterclaim for the costs arising from the litigation, the plaintiff’s motion to dismiss the counterclaim should be allowed because the indemnity clause in her independent contractor agreement does not cover her suit.
“… [The plaintiff] alleges that the defendants, Total Event Solutions, Inc. (‘TES’), and its owner, … violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (‘FLSA’) and the wage laws of several states by misclassifying her as an independent contractor and failing to pay her earned wages, including overtime. … The defendants counterclaimed for contractual indemnification related to the costs of litigation. …
“… Each of the TES promotional workers signed an ‘Independent Contractor Agreement’ (‘ICA’) for each event they worked. … The ICA included a Rhode Island choice of law provision. … The Defendants, relying on the ICA, argue that they are entitled to contractual indemnification for the costs arising from this litigation. …
“The Court must first determine whether the indemnity clause in the ICA plausibly covers [the plaintiff]’s instant suit alleging independent contractor misclassification, failure to pay overtime, and failure to timely pay wages under the FLSA and Rhode Island and New York state law. Under Rhode Island law ‘indemnification provisions are to be strictly construed against the party asserting a right of...
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