MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Richard Johnson (“Plaintiff”) commenced this action against Ensite USA, Inc. (“Defendant”) on May 17, 2021 (Doc. 1), and filed an Amended Complaint on May 26, 2021 (Doc. 3, “AC”). Plaintiff asserts one claim for relief under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and four claims for relief under the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). Before the Court is Defendant’s motion to compel Plaintiff to arbitrate his claims under two written arbitration agreements. (Doc. 11-1, “Def. Ex. A”; Doc. 11-2, “Def. Ex. B”), or in the alternative, to dismiss or transfer this case.1 Defendant moved on July 26, 2021 (Doc. 10; Doc. 11, “Def. Br.”), Plaintiff opposed on August 27, 2021 (Doc. 15, “Pl. Opp.”; Doc. 16, “Mazzaferro Decl.”), and the motion was fully briefed with Defendant’s submission of a reply memorandum of law in further support of its motion on September 13, 2021 (Doc. 17, “Reply”). For the reasons set forth below, Defendant’s motion to compel arbitration is GRANTED. BACKGROUND I. The Arbitration Agreements Plaintiff entered into two agreements with Defendant, both entitled: “Arbitration Agreement and Class/Collective Action Waiver.” (Def. Exs. A and B). Plaintiff entered into the first agreement on July 12, 2019 (Def. Ex. A), and the second agreement on June 10, 2020 (Def. Ex. B). Because the terms of these agreements are identical, the Court refers to them herein as the “Agreements.” The first paragraph of the Agreements states: 1. Agreement to Arbitrate. [Defendant] and [Plaintiff] agree that all Covered Claims…will be decided by a single arbitrator of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) through final and binding arbitration only and will not be decided by a court or jury or any other forum, except as otherwise provided herein. This is an agreement to arbitrate Covered Claims which shall be governed by the Texas General Arbitration Act (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §171 et seq.) and by the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. §§1-16), to the extent not inconsistent with the Texas General Arbitration Act.) The mutual agreement to arbitrate contained in this agreement and the continued employment of [Plaintiff] each provide consideration for this Agreement. [Defendant] and [Plaintiff] acknowledge the sufficiency of such consideration. [Defendant] and [Plaintiff] further agree that any other entities or individuals who may be deemed or be alleged to be employers, joint employers, or co-employers of [Plaintiff] under any state or federal law resulting from [Plaintiff's] work on projects for [Defendant] are intended by [Defendant] and [Plaintiff] to be third party beneficiaries of this Agreement. Thus, workplace legal disputes involving such third parties resulting from [Plaintiff's] work on projects for [Defendant] must be arbitrated pursuant to this Agreement. (Def. Exs. A and B 1 (emphasis added)). The second paragraph of the Agreements defines “Covered Claims” as follows: 2. Claims Covered by This Agreement. Except as otherwise stated in this Agreement, “Covered Claims” are any and all legal claims, disputes or controversies…that [Plaintiff] may have, now or in the future, against [Defendant]…arising out of or related to this Agreement, [Plaintiff's] employment with [Defendant] (including subsequent periods of employment following any layoff, resignation, termination, or break in service), or the termination of [Plaintiff's] employment (including any future period of employment) with [Defendant]…. “Covered Claims” include but are not limited to employee disputes regarding wages and other forms of compensation, hours of work, meal and rest break periods, seating, expense reimbursement, leaves of absence, harassment, discrimination, retaliation and termination, including but not limited to claims arising under…Fair Labor Standards Act…and other federal, state and local law relating to employment. Further, “Covered Claims” include any dispute or claim arising out of this Agreement, including claims or disputes regarding the formation, application, breach, termination, validity, interpretation, or enforcement of this Agreement[.] (Id. (emphasis)). Further, the Agreements make clear that they: do[] not prohibit or prevent [Plaintiff] from joining, opting into and/or participating as a party, claimant and/or class member in any lawsuits involving Covered Claims that have already been filed and are pending against [Defendant] in any state or federal court as of the date [Plaintiff] signs this Agreement (provided such lawsuits were not filed in violation of this Agreement). (Id. at 2). II. Factual and Procedural History Plaintiff was employed by Defendant as a Welding Inspector from January 2017 through December 2019. (AC 21). Between March 2018 and June or July 2018, Plaintiff performed work for Defendant in Yorktown, New York. (Id.). According to Plaintiff, Defendant paid him a set daily rate, regardless of the number of hours he worked in a week. (Id. 76). Plaintiff maintains that he often worked thirty minutes to an hour (or more) beyond his scheduled shift, was not always permitted to record this additional time, and was not paid overtime for hours worked beyond forty in a workweek. (Id.
75-78, 94-97). In addition, Plaintiff insists that Defendant failed to provide him with proper wage statements and notices, and to make timely payment of wages. (Id.
