Before: Cabranes and Carney, C.JJ., and Caproni, D.J.*Plaintiffappellant Patrick Velarde sued The Salon Professional Academy of Buffalo and its owners, Margaret Grenauer and Paul Grenauer, (collectively, “the Academy”) in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York (Skretny, J.) for alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§201 et seq. (“FLSA”), and Articles 6 and 19 of the New York labor law, N.Y. Lab. Law §§190, 650 et seq. Velarde alleges that, as a part of his vocational training at the Academy for becoming a licensed beautician, he was required to perform cosmetology services without compensation in the Academy’s student salon. He argues that the requirement violated FLSA and New York labor law. The District Court granted judgment on the pleadings to the Academy, reasoning under the test that we established in Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc., 811 F.3d 528, 536537 (2d Cir. 2015), that Velarde was the “primary beneficiary” of his relationship with the Academy and therefore not an “employee” of the Academy for the purposes of both FLSA and New York labor law. On de novo review, we agree with the District Court’s analysis and AFFIRM its award of judgment to the Academy.AFFIRMED.Susan Carney, C.J.In Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc., 811 F.3d 528 (2d Cir. 2015), we addressed the application of certain federal and state employment laws to activities performed in a commercial setting by temporary “interns.” We applied a “primary beneficiary” test: if, under certain enumerated circumstances, the intern is the “primary beneficiary” of the relationship, then the host entity is not the intern’s employer and has no legal obligation to pay compensation under those laws; if, on the other hand, the host entity is the “primary beneficiary” of the relationship, then the entity is an employer and federal and state employment laws — in particular, the Fair Labor Standards Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. §§201 et seq. (“FLSA”), and Articles 6 and 19 of the New York Labor Law §§190, 650 et seq. (“NYLL”) — impose compensation obligations.In the case at bar, we consider the applicability of this test to individuals enrolled in a forprofit vocational academy who are preparing to take a state licensure examination and who must first fulfill state minimum training requirements. These individuals fulfill those requirements by working under Academy supervision for a defined number of hours, without pay. We determine that the Glatt test governs in the forprofit vocational training context, and we further conclude that here, the plaintiff, former student of the Academy was the primary beneficiary of the relationship, thus excusing the latter from potential compensation obligations under FLSA or NYLL related to plaintiff’s limited work there as a trainee.BACKGROUND1On April 18, 2011, desiring to become a cosmetologist in New York state,2 Patrick Velarde enrolled in the Academy, a forprofit cosmetology training school operated by the individual defendants and located in the City of Tonawanda, in Erie County, New York. On November 16 of that year, he finished the Academy’s program, having successfully completed what the Academy’s diploma describes as a “1000 hour course of study in [c]osmetology [a]pproved by the state of New York.” App’x 96. The Academy’s course included both classroom instruction and supervised practical experience in its student salon (the “Salon”), in which members of the public could receive cosmetology services and the Academy’s students could practice and refine their skills. Velarde provided such services, under supervision, as generally described by his enrollment agreement and course catalogue.Having become a licensed cosmetologist in 2012, Velarde sued the Academy for unpaid wages in 2014 — three years after completing the program. He alleged that the Academy violated FLSA and several sections of NYLL by failing to pay him for the work that he did in the Salon while he was enrolled at the Academy. In his operative complaint,3 he charged that, “under the terms of the students’ enrollment agreement,” he and all students enrolled in the Academy were unlawfully required to work without pay in the Salon as part of their course of instruction. Am. Compl. 4, App’x 8; Enrollment Agt., App’x 98. After finishing eight weeks in the classroom, Velarde worked at the Salon, logging 34 unpaid hours per week for 22 weeks and practicing under the supervision of licensed practitioners. During those 22 weeks, he performed “barbering and hair styling, skin and body treatments, [and] manicure and pedicure services,” for the public. Am. Compl.
