On July 15, 2015 the Department of Labor issued an administrator’s interpretation regarding the widespread issue of employers misclassifying workers as independent contractors instead of employees. It has become a common phenomenon in the United States for employers to willfully misclassify their employees as independent contractors to cut labor costs and avoid paying such workers minimum wage, overtime pay, and other benefits such as unemployment insurance and worker’s compensation. Many workers are being deprived of their rights under the FLSA ...
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On August 22, 2014, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Louya Corp. d/b/a Jacques Brasserie as well its individual owners and related entities (collectively, “Defendants”). The lawsuit was filed on behalf of seven cooks, waiters, and runners (collectively, “Non-Exempt Employees”) who work or have worked at Jacques Brasserie in New York City.
The lawsuit alleged that the Defendants instituted widespread practices and policies that violated the ...
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On July 7, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, along with co-counsel, Nichols Kaster, PLLP, filed a class and collective action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Assurance Wireless, LLC (“Assurance Wireless”) and Wallace Morgan, Inc. (“Wallace Morgan”). The lawsuit is filed on behalf of all account executives, corporate trainers, or other similarly situated employees whose job was to gather applications for enrollment in the Lifeline Assistance Program through Assurance Wireless and ...
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On June 29, 2015, in the case of Lloyd v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Judge Dennis Jacobs of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied Defendants’ appeal from an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denying their motion to compel arbitration. Defendants moved to compel arbitration because of an arbitration clause found in the plaintiffs’ employment contracts.
This suit was filed on December 9, 2011 on behalf of ...
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On June 29, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class and collective action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District Court for the Southern District of New York against 85 Pearl Street Venture LTD. d/b/a Stone Street Tavern (“Stone Street Tavern”). The lawsuit is filed on behalf of all servers, bussers, runners, bartenders, barbacks, and other similarly situated tipped employees (collectively, “Tipped Employees”) who work or have worked at Stone Street Tavern in New York City.
The ...
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The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has announced a proposal to update the regulations which govern overtime compensation for employees. Currently, the only way employees are automatically guaranteed time and a half pay for hours worked over forty per week is when they make less than $23,660 per year, or $455 per week. Moreover, employees today who make more than $23,660 per year can be given limited supervisory duties and can be called a “manager”, making them exempt from overtime pay. ...
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On June 26, 2015, The Supreme Court, in Obegerfell v. Hodges, ruled in a 5 to 4 decision that the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution require all states to allow same-sex marriages. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the opinion for the court, and stated “same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry in all States [and] that there is no lawful basis for a state to refuse to recognize a lawful same-sex marriage performed in ...
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On June 18, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) strengthened the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by adopting a proposal that protects consumers from receiving robocalls and spam texts if consumers do not first give their consent. This action stemmed from thousands of consumer complaints made to the FCC regarding robocalls and robotexts. The FCC receives more consumer complaints regarding unwanted calls than any other category of complaints. In 2014, there were over 215,000 complaints to the FCC. In this ...
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On May 29, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York against Aki Renovations Group, Inc.; Aki Renovations, Inc.; Aki Todic, individually; Mujo Todic, individually; and Halil Todic, individually (collectively “Defendants” or “Aki Group”). The lawsuit is filed on behalf of all laborers who work or have worked for the Aki Group within the last six years.
Defendants are based in Queens, New York and provide ...
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The United States Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, ruled in favor of a Muslim woman who was denied a job at Abercrombie & Fitch after she interviewed for a sales position because she wore hijab, a black headscarf worn for religious reasons.
The applicant, Samantha Elauf, never told her interviewer that she was Muslim. However, Elauf did not get the job and was told by a friend it was because of her headscarf. The headscarf violated Abercrombie & Fitch’s dress ...
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