In November we reported on Wigdor v SoulCycle, which had been filed in New York Supreme Court, New York County.  In that action a well-known plaintiff’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, alleged that SoulCycle retaliated against him by banning him from the Company’s establishments because Wigdor had filed a putative wage and hour class action against SoulCycle.

This action reminded us of Jerry Seinfeld’s “Soup Man,” who would decline to serve customers that did not properly place a soup order.  We had previously asked whether the owner of a store has a right to prevent counsel from entering, for example, to solicit business in their establishment.  The answer is apparently: yes …. and no.

In Wigdor v SoulCycle, Mr. Wigdor asserted four claims: (1) retaliation under New York Labor Law (NYLL) § 215; (2) retaliation under California Labor Code (CLC); (3) prima facie tort; and (4) breach of an obligation of good faith and fair dealing.  SoulCycle moved to dismiss all claims for failure to state a claim, and now the Court has issued a decision on that motion.

The Court dismissed three of the four claims – the retaliation claims under NYLL and CLC as well as the prima facie tort claim – but declined to dismiss the claim for good faith and fair dealing.  See Wigdor v SoulCycle, Index 161572/2014 (Sup. Ct, NY County April 13, 2015).  In dismissing the NYLL and CLC retaliation claims the Court recognized, as we noted in the November blog, that both statutes prohibit retaliation against an “employee.”  Indeed, NYLL § 215 states: “No employer … shall discharge, penalize, or in any other manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has made a complaint to his employer….” id. (emphasis supplied).  The CLC contains a similar provision.  Yet neither statute references protection for the employee’s lawyer.  The Court explained:

Contrary to the plaintiff’s contention, the text of Labor Law § 215 does not reveal a clear intent to authorize a claim where an employer retaliates against an attorney that represents a former employee of the employer.  Indeed, neither the plain language of the statute nor its legislative history, as revealed by the 1967 bill jacket accompanying its enactment and the 1986 bill jacket accompanying its amendment, contemplates an action by someone other than an employee making complaints regarding a former employer.

Id.  Additionally, the Court dismissed the claim for prima facie tort because “other than conclusory contentions, there are no facts supporting the assertion that defendants sole motivation for banning plaintiff from SoulCycle premises was intended to maliciously injure plaintiff.”   Id.  Thus, Seinfeld’s Soup Man would appear to be vindicated.

Unfortunately, the case took a turn for the worse for SoulCycle as the Court refused to dismiss the final claim for breach of good faith and fair dealing.  A prerequisite for asserting such a claim under New York law is that a plaintiff must plead and prove that there was a contractual relationship between the plaintiff and defendant.  SoulCycle argued that it never had a contractual relationship with Wigdor and therefore the claim should be dismissed. The Court disagreed concluding that when Wigdor plead that he had “electronically agreed to SoulCycle’s terms and conditions” he established, at least for the purpose of stating a claim, that a contractual relationship was created.   Accordingly, the breach of good faith and fair dealing claim survives, for now.

Thus, it seems the Court’s ruling does give some guidance to our inquiry as to when a business owner has an appropriate say in deciding who should not be allowed to patronize his/her business.  Certainly, had there been no prior business relationship between Wigdor and SoulCycle, and then this case would have been dismissed.  Yet, apparently when there is some prior “contractual relationship” then the lines become a little cloudy as to when the business owner can decide whether someone should continue to patronize the business.  We are now left to ask, merely because someone had patronized the business before and abided by the terms and conditions of the business owner, such as paying for the goods and services rendered, when can the business owner end that relationship?  How long does the former patron get to ask, as Oliver Twist might – “Please Sir, can I have some more?”