Democratic National Committee headquarters, Washington, D.C. Photo: Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock.com

The Democratic National Committee has dodged a lawsuit alleging it failed to properly pay workers overtime during the year leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

U.S. District Judge Darnell Jones of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Sept. 27 granted the motion to dismiss DNC Services Corp., doing business as the Democratic National Committee, from the case Katz v. DNC Services.

Although the ruling allowed some claims to move forward against the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, Jones determined that plaintiff Bethany Katz failed to prove that the DNC was her employer.

"The alleged sharing of funds and provision of 'critical staff salaries,' does not permit the court to reasonably infer that the redistribution of money—a fungible commodity that could be applied to salaries as easily as it could be applied to the purchase of stationary—evidences the authority to hire and fire," Jones said. "Additionally, posting job applications for field organizers and then participating in the training of those hired, does not plausibly allege that defendant DNC could have hired those individuals or that it had the authority to fire them if they failed to fulfill their job duties."

The relationship between the DNC and the Pennsylvania Democratic Party was complex, as indicated by court records.

According to Jones, Katz and similar organizers were directly employed by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, but some of their duties related to the "Pennsylvania Coordinated Campaign," which performed campaign efforts under the brand of "Hillary for Pennsylvania." Although Hillary for President oversaw the coordinated campaign efforts, the DNC also coordinated and directed strategic initiatives directly with the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, Jones said. He added that the DNC directed the state party to hire and retain organizers, and when the party hired organizers, it did so with money provided by the DNC.

According to Jones, the job duties included making numerous phone calls each week as part of the get-out-the-vote effort, posting on social media, and collecting survey data from registered voters. Katz and other organizers would also input survey answers into Votebuilder, a database jointly operated by the DNC and the state party, which aggregated and synthesized voter information into one location so it could then be sold and licensed to other campaigns and third-party organizations, Jones said.

Jones said Katz and other organizers worked more than 40 hours each week, but were allegedly never paid overtime or any other extra compensation. Ultimately, Katz sued the DNC and the Pennsylvania Democratic Party in a proposed class action, alleging violations of both the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act.

Much of Katz's arguments seeking to hold the DNC liable focused on that organization's ties with the state party and Hillary for President, which was a nonparty. Jones, however, rejected efforts to "collapse two independent legal entities into one," and said he would only consider allegations regarding the DNC's independent conduct.

However, Jones determined that Katz only proved the DNC's "involvement" in her employment, rather than "actual authority."

"The coordination and strategic involvement of separate legal entities with a common goal does not equal joint employer relationship in and of itself," Jones said. "If it did, defendant DNC inherently would be joint employers with each of its state affiliates."

Katz was represented by Justin Swidler and Joshua Boyette of Swartz Swidler in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. A message left at the firm seeking comment was not returned. Both Elisabeth Frost of Perkins Coie, who represented the DNC, and Ashley Baxter, of Fox Rothschild, who represented the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, did not return a call seeking comment.