Last week, NBCUniversal agreed to pay $6.4 million to their interns to resolve an unpaid wages lawsuit. Last year, former interns of NBCUniversal filed a lawsuit alleging that NBCUniversal failed to pay them the applicable minimum wage or any wages at all for their work in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act which states that internships must benefit the interns, not the employer. Although NBCUniversal did not admit any wrongdoing, this is yet another case where a company has ...
Continue Reading →8 OCT
In a recent decision, on October 1, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the District Court of Puerto Rico’s decision granting summary judgment for the Secretary of the Department of Labor (“DOL”), against Lorraine Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a Piccolo E Posto, Lorraine Lago, and Pedro Gonzalez (collectively, “Defendants”), and denied Defendants motion to amend or alter that judgment. Perez v. Lorraine Enterprises, Inc., d/b/a Piccolo E Posto, et al., Nos. 13-1685 (1st Cir., Oct. 1, ...
Continue Reading →25 AUG
Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit on August 22, 2014, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Jacques Restaurant Group on behalf of all line cooks, food preparers, dishwashers, servers, bussers, runners, bartenders, and cooks (“Restaurant Workers”) who work or have worked at Jacques Brasserie located at 204 East 85th Street, New York, New York, Jacques 1534 located at 20 Prince Street, New York, New York, or The Pitch & ...
Continue Reading →25 AUG
On August 22, 2014, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the corporate entities doing business as the Café Español restaurants located at 78 Carmine Street and 172 Bleecker Street in New York (collectively, “Café Español”). The lawsuit alleges that despite working over 40 hours per week, cooks, food preparers, dishwashers, and kitchen helpers are only paid a fixed weekly salary and not time ...
Continue Reading →14 JUL
In a case of first impression in the Third Circuit, a Middle District of Pennsylvania Court held that expediters at the Red Robin restaurant chain did not fall within the definition of “tipped employees” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Ford v. Lehigh Valley Restaurant Group, Inc., No. 14-cv-227. The case revolves around the interpretation of 29 U.S.C. § 203(m), which allows “the pooling of tips among employees who customarily and regularly receive tips.” Defendant Red Robin instituted a ...
Continue Reading →23 JUN
On June 18th, 2014, Senator Tom Harkin along with 8 other Senate Democrats launched the Restoring Overtime Pay for Working Americans Act in order to protect low and mid-wage salaried workers. As our outdated overtime laws deny many Americans nationwide pay that reflect their hours worked, this legislation would help employees achieve the simple right of being adequately compensated for a long days work.
Changes would be gradual and would look to raise the overtime salary threshold for executive, administrative and ...
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