A Federal Court in New York recently agreed with an Arbitrator’s award permitting the employees to seek their New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) and Fair Labor Standard Act (“FLSA”) claims on a class-wide or collective action basis, despite the arbitration agreement not expressly giving the employees this option. The employees worked as tipped, hourly food service workers at their employers’ restaurants. During their employment, the employees received a handbook with a dispute resolution policy (“DRP”) and they also received a ...
Continue Reading →10 JUL
In the first class-wide settlement of its kind, employees of a home care agency reached an agreement with their employer to settle their overtime compensation claims. The New York State Court approved a settlement that awarded the employees $1.1 million. The employees worked as home health aides for McMillan’s Home Care Agency. The employees alleged that their employer failed to pay them overtime at one and one half times their regularly hourly rate, despite frequently working up to 60 hours ...
Continue Reading →21 JUN
In a recent case, New York’s highest court decided that an oral bonus agreement is enforceable. The court awarded the employee the amount of the bonus, interest and attorneys’ fees. While working in the financial industry for a brokerage firm, the employee received a job offer from another employer, which was a broker-dealer. As part of the compensation package offered, the employee was to be paid a bonus. The agreement was not in writing, but was offered and accepted verbally. ...
Continue Reading →19 JUN
The Supreme Court of the United States recently decided in Christopher v. Smithkline Beecham Corp. that pharmaceutical sales representatives are not entitled to overtime wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) because they satisfy the ‘outside salesmen’ exemption. The Court based their decision on the nature of the pharmaceutical sales reps’ position and the rules and industry wide practices set forth in the pharmaceutical sales industry. A pharmaceutical sales rep’s objective is to enter into as many nonbinding commitment ...
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F&S filed a class and collective action in the United States District Court Southern District of New York against Fiddlesticks and Galway Hooker, very well-known bars in New York City. We allege workers were not paid properly and violations include minimum wage, overtime and spread of hours pay. Current and former employees should contact the firm to join the case as soon as possible. We are seeking liquidated damages, which can double the amount ...
Continue Reading →1 MAY
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On April 24, 2012, Fitapelli & Schaffer filed a class and collective action lawsuit against Gusto Restaurant in New York City. The lawsuit alleges Gusto failed to pay their employees minimum wage, overtime, gratuities and spread of hours to servers, bussers, runners, bartenders, barbacks, dishwashers, salad and pasta preparers. Since we filed the lawsuit, additional workers have joined the case. We will seek to represent all eligible workers who have been employed by Gusto ...
Continue Reading →23 APR
Boston Market has agreed to settle an overtime claim for $3 million. The claim was brought on behalf of assistant managers who alleged they were wrongfully misclassified as exempt from the overtime laws. The settlement covers a nation-wide collective action pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act and class actions pursuant to New York and Connecticut law. Many cases involving assistant managers are fact specific, and turn on whether the employees performed menial tasks for a majority of their workday, ...
Continue Reading →9 APR
On April 6, 2012, Judge Katherine B. Forrest of the United States District Court, Southern District of New York granted Plaintiffs’ motion for a collective action pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The lawsuit alleged that Merrill Lynch and Bank of America misclassified Financial Advisors as exempt salaried employees and thus, did not pay them overtime. However, because the Court found that all Financial Advisors are similarly situated, a notice will be mailed to all Financial Advisors advising ...
Continue Reading →21 MAR
Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP recently filed a class and collective action lawsuit against Andres Carne De Tres, a very popular Columbian restaurant in Woodside, Queens. We allege tipped employees were not paid minimum wage, overtime, spread of hours, gratuities and service charges. To make matters worse, our client was paid only $30 no matter how many hours worked per shift. We are seeking to have all current and formers waiters, bussers and bartenders join the case.
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