Measure of control: ‘member-owned cooperative’ not liable for age bias claim

A supermarket cooperative isn’t considered the employer of individuals who work for its member stores and cannot be found liable for the age discrimination claims of an employee of one of its members, the Appellate Division ruled recently.

Facts

In 1991, Gina Dorrity was hired as a part-time cashier at ShopRite, a supermarket located in West Caldwell, New Jersey. Over the next 10 years, she was promoted twice—from cashier to courtesy counter clerk and then to head bookkeeper and head courtesy clerk. In 2011, she was transferred from the West Caldwell store to the Parsippany store while also taking on additional HR duties.

Both the West Caldwell and Parsippany Shoprite locations are owned by Sunrise Supermarkets, Inc., part of a “member-owned cooperative” named Wakefern Food Cooperation that independently owns and operates approximately 325 grocery stores doing business under the ShopRite trade name.

In 2014, a few years after Dorrity’s transfer to ShopRite of Parsippany, Andrew Leaman was hired for the newly created customer service manager position, which had supervisory authority over Dorrity. He didn’t have any relevant experience before starting the job, and she wasn’t offered or considered for the position despite her 25 years of experience. When he transitioned to a new position as IT supervisor, he was replaced by another new hire who was 26 years old.