Jan 11
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
There have been recent initiatives from the wage and hour division of the Department of Labor to investigate the oil and gas industry and its compliance to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In the last few years, big industry names like Shell Oil Co. and Motiva Enterprises were investigated and held accountable for unpaid overtime and not compensating their workers correctly. In fact, since 2012 the Department of Labor has netted more than $37,000,000 in back wages for industry workers. As these investigations continued onto other companies in the industry, it became apparent that Citgo also faced similar issues with unpaid overtime and paying its refinery employees for all of their hours worked.
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Jan 8
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Dealing with discrimination and harassment in the workplace can be very difficult. However, there has been a recent victory for those fighting against unjust working conditions in the form of a $4,000,000 settlement in a discrimination case against Sara Lee. African American workers of a Sara Lee factory in Paris, Texas rallied together and initiated a lawsuit against the company for what is now heralded a landmark racial discrimination case. The facility in question closed down in 2011 and Sara Lee was eventually acquired by Tyson in 2014. The findings of a two year investigation led by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after the location closed helped these workers be awarded a hefty settlement for millions of dollars. The EEOC alleged it would initiate its own lawsuit if a resolution was not reached.
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Dec 16
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Two former tipped workers of the Michelin-starred restaurant Gramercy Tavern are suing owner and restaurant mogul Danny Meyer for unpaid wages. Meyer, who also owns several other restaurants such as Shake Shack, Blue Smoke, Maialino, Jazz Standard, The Modern, North End Grill, and Union Square Café under the parent Company Union Square Hospitality, has been accused of being in violation of federal and state labor laws.
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Dec 14
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Handing down a victory for restaurant worker rights, the decision to increase the minimum wage for fast food workers to $15 an hour in the state of New York has been upheld by a state oversight board. On Wednesday, the New York Industrial Board of Appeals rejected arguments made by the National Restaurant’s Association that claimed the mandate to increase wages was arbitrary and unfair by focusing on national chain restaurants with 30 or more locations.
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Nov 17
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On November 16, 2015, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman issued a press release stating that Abdul Jamil Khokar, a franchisee of nine Papa John’s restaurants in the Bronx, pled guilty for failing to pay wages under the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). BMY Foods, Inc., the corporation which owned and operated the Papa John’s franchises with Khokar, pled guilty of falsifying business records. Khokar will serve 60 days in jail, and will pay $230,000 in restitution to his employees.
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Nov 12
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Joe’s Crab Shack has announced that they will be dropping tipping as a method of payment for all of its restaurants. Employees of Joe’s Crab Shack will now be paid $14.00 per hour, but there is also the potential for pay to vary based on each particular employee’s past performance at the restaurant. Joe’s Crab Shack’s parent corporation, Ignite Restaurant Group, first experimented with this policy at 18 of its locations, and will now be implementing it at all 113 of its locations.
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Nov 9
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On November 5, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP and Pechman Law Group, PLLC filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Oaxaca restaurants in New York City. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of all servers, cooks, kitchen assistants, counterpersons, delivery persons, and other Restaurant Workers (collectively, “Restaurant Workers”) who work or have worked at Oaxaca Taqueria located at the Upper West Side (“Oaxaca Amsterdam”) located at 424 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York 10024; Bed Stuy (“Oaxaca Bedford”) located at 1116 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11216; Park Slope (“Oaxaca Fourth”) located at 250 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11215; West Village (“Oaxaca Greenwich”) located at 48 Greenwich Avenue, New York, New York 10011; Stuyvesant Heights (“Oaxaca Halsey”) located at 478 Halsey Street, Brooklyn, New York 11233; Hells Kitchen (“Oaxaca Hells Kitchen”) located at 405 West 44th Street, New York, New York 10036; Boreum Hill (“Oaxaca Hoyt”) located at 75 A/B Hoyt Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201; Murray Hill (“Oaxaca Murray Hill”) located at 152 East 33rd Street, New York, New York 10016; Navy Yard (“Oaxaca Navy Yard”) located at 10 Clermont Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11205; and Williamsburg (“Oaxaca Williamsburg”) located at 130 Grand Street, Brooklyn, New York 11249.
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Nov 9
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On November 3, 2015, The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted Plaintiffs’ Motion for a 45 day extension of the deadline for potential plaintiffs to opt-in to the lawsuit against Carlson’s Restaurant Inc. and TGI Friday’s Inc. (collectively, “TGI Friday’s”). The lawsuit alleges that TGI Friday’s failed to pay its servers, bussers, runners, bartenders, barbacks, hosts and other tipped food service workers (“Tipped Employees”) proper minimum wage, overtime pay, spread-of-hours pay, and misappropriated tips, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”).
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Nov 9
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On November 5, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Lasership , Inc., and Mahmoud, Inc. (collectively, “Lasership” or “Defendants”). The lawsuit is filed on behalf of all delivery persons or “walkers” (collectively, “walkers”) who work or have worked at Lasership in New York.
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Oct 22
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On Wednesday, October 21 2015, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed eight bills that make up part of the Women’s Equality Act (“WEA”), which was first initiated by Cuomo in 2012. These WEA bills are designed to end gender based inequality and discrimination. The bills signed involve equal pay for women, prohibition of employment discrimination, among many other issues. The bills will largely take effect within 90 days.
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Oct 20
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On October 15, 2015, the United States District Court for the District of Montana granted Plaintiff’s Motion for Conditional Certification and Notice against Exploration Drilling for Unpaid Overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). In granting Conditional Certification, the Court held that Plaintiff met his burden of establishing that he and the putative class members, consisting of Flowback Operators, are similarly situated. This determination by the Court was based off of six declarations, one from Plaintiff and the rest from putative class members. They all asserted that their employment with Exploration Drilling as Flowback Operators was similar.
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Sep 25
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On Friday, September 25, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Numero 28 Pizzerias in New York. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of all servers, busboys, runners, bartenders, and other “Tipped Workers” who work or have worked at any of Numero 28 pizzerias in New York City. Numero 28’s New York City locations include the “West Village”- located at 28 Carmine Street, New York, NY 10014; the “Upper East Side”- located at 1431 First Avenue, New York, NY 10021; the “East Village” – located at 176 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10003; the “Upper West Side”- located at 660 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10025; “Brooklyn”- located at 137 7th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215; and “Bergen Street”- located at 68 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
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Sep 24
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On Tuesday September 22, 2015, oil and gas service provider Halliburton came to an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to pay more than $18 million in unpaid overtime wages to over 1,000 of Halliburton employees across the nation. The DOL, in a news release, called it “one of the largest recoveries of overtime wages in recent years.”
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Sep 18
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On September 18, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, filed a lawsuit in Supreme Court New York County against JPMorgan Chase & Co, and Abdool Shakur (collectively, Defendants). The lawsuit is filed on behalf of Gulshan Chhabra (“Plaintiff”), a former Relationship Banker at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
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Sep 15
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On September 10, 2015, New York Commissioner of Labor Mario Musolino adopted the Fast Food Wage Board’s recommendations regarding increasing the minimum wage for fast food workers in New York to $15 per hour. The Order will take place thirty days after notice is published in at least ten newspapers in New York.
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Sep 8
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
The New York City Commission on Human Rights amended the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”) by adding the Stop Credit Discrimination in Employment Act (“SCDEA”). The SCDEA went into effect on September 3, 2015 and makes it unlawful and discriminatory for employers, labor organizations, and employment agencies to request or use the consumer credit history of an applicant for the purpose of making any employment decisions, including hiring, compensation, and other terms and conditions of employment. N.Y.C. Admin. Code §§ 8-102(29), 8-107(24). The SCDEA also makes it unlawful and discriminatory for a city agency to request or use, for licensing or permitting purposes, information contained in the consumer credit history of an applicant, licensee or permittee. N.Y.C Admin. Code § 8-107(9)(d)(1).
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Sep 3
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On Wednesday, September 2, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York on behalf of all servers, bussers, bartenders, barbacks, and other tipped workers (collectively “Tipped Workers”) who work or have worked at Delmonico’s Italian Steakhouse located at 1553 Central Avenue, Albany, New York 12205 (“Albany Delmonico’s”); 125 White Spruce Boulevard, Rochester, New York 14623 (“Rochester Delmonico’s”); 147 North Genesee Street, Utica, New York 13502 (“Utica Delmonico’s”); 2950 Erie Blvd East, Syracuse, New York 13224 (“Syracuse Delmonico’s”); and 3 Northside Drive, Clifton Park, New York 12065 (“Clifton Park Delmonico’s”) (collectively, the “Delmonico’s Restaurants”).
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Sep 3
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On Tuesday, September 1, 2015, a federal judge granted class action certification in a lawsuit against Uber. The lawsuit argues that Uber labels their drivers as independent contractors when they should actually be considered employees. Labeling workers as independent contractors rather than employees is a method employers frequently utilize in bad faith to keep labor costs low, because it allows them to avoid paying workers minimum wage and overtime compensation. It also allows employers to avoid paying for health insurance or payroll taxes to workers. Class action certification was granted to Uber drivers who directly contract with Uber and to those who were drivers before June 2014.
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Sep 1
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On August 27, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) established a new standard to determine joint employer status under the National Labor Relations Act in Browning-Ferris Industries of California, Inc. The new standard substantially broadens what it means to be an employer, as it includes employers who only affect employment conditions indirectly, which will allow many more employers to fall in the joint employer category.
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Aug 28
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On Friday, August 28, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Koi Group Inc, Koi NY LLC d/b/a Koi Restaurant, and Koi NY Downtown LLC d/b/a Koi SoHo, (collectively, “Koi”). The lawsuit is filed on behalf of all servers, bussers, runners, bartenders and other “Tipped Employees” who work or have worked at Koi Restaurant located at the Bryant Park Hotel or Trump Soho in New York City.
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Jul 31
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On July 30, 2015, Judge Gabriel Gorenstein of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted Plaintiff’s Motion for Conditional Approval of a Collective Action against Cheetahs Gentlemen’s Club & Restaurant (“Cheetahs”). The court held that Plaintiffs sufficiently demonstrated that they are similarly situated to other entertainers who worked at Cheetahs. The court granted notice to be sent to “all individuals who worked at Cheetahs”, so they may have an opportunity to join the case. Additionally, the court held that even though some entertainers had arbitration agreements in their contracts, this fact is irrelevant to collective action approval and notice is to be sent to all entertainers, regardless of whether there was an arbitration agreement in their contract.
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Jul 29
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On Wednesday July 22, 2015, the New York Wage Board, appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, approved a proposal for minimum wage to be increased for workers in the fast food industry in New York City to $15 per hour. The increase would occur over a period of three years in New York City, and over a period of six years for the rest of New York.
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Jul 28
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on July 23, 2015 in Lola v. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom et al that contract attorneys hired to perform document review could be eligible for overtime pay for hours worked over 40 per workweek. Though employers are not required to pay licensed attorneys overtime if their work is considered to be legal work, the 2nd Circuit held that contract attorneys could potentially receive overtime pay if their work is so basic it cannot truly be considered the practice of law.
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Jul 27
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On July, 22 2015, Fitapellli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Artisanal Fromagerie & Bistro, LLC (“Artisanal”), Vincent S. Bonfittodrory a/k/a “Sarid Drory,” and Terrance Brennan. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of all servers, bussers, runners, bartenders, and other similarly situated tipped employees (collectively, “Tipped Employees”) who work or have worked at Artisanal, located at 2 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10016.
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Jul 20
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On July 16, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District Court for the Southern District of New York against Ricardo LLC d/b/a Ricardo Steak House. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of all servers, busboys, runners, bartenders, cocktail waiters/waitresses, and other similarly situated tipped workers (collectively, “Tipped Workers”) who work or have worked at Ricardo Steak House in New York City.
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Jul 16
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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 due to these misclassifications. Under the FLSA, employers are required to pay employees minimum wage and overtime pay for any hours worked over forty per work week.
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Jul 13
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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.
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Jul 8
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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 Wallace Morgan.
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Jul 2
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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.
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Jul 1
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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.
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Jun 30
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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. For example, a Chipotle “apprentice” working over 50 hours per week while only earning $36,000 per year was classified as exempt from overtime pay, though most of the job duties included preparing orders and working the cash register. Additionally, a store manager for Dollar General, working 60-80 hours per week earning only $34,700 per year was classified as exempt from overtime pay. The exception to overtime eligibility was not meant to apply to these types of workers, it was meant to apply to highly-compensated, executive, white collar employees.
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Jun 29
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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 another State on the ground of its same-sex character.”
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Jun 19
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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 action the FCC addressed these complaints by clarifying its interpretation of the TCPA and by strengthening consumer protections from unwanted calls and texts.
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Jun 1
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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.
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Jun 1
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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.
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Jun 1
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On May 20, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Montana Billings Division against Exploration Drilling, Inc. (“Exploration Drilling”). The lawsuit is filed on behalf of all flowback operators and other similarly situated employees who work or have worked at Exploration Drilling nationwide.
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May 19
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer paid 33 immigrant workers over $900,000 from a settlement involving North American Iron Works Inc. construction firm for failing to pay prevailing wage. Immigrants working for North American Iron Works who were not union employees were being paid $16 per hour instead of the required $42 per hour plus benefits.
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May 16
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
In a recent decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit clarified a key question that is becoming more frequent in single plaintiff and class action litigation: whether a Rule 68 offer of judgment that is not accepted moots a plaintiff’s individual claims to continue their case. A Rule 68 Offer of Judgment is a procedural tool that allows defendants to offer a plaintiff a specific amount of money (usually the maximum recovery allowed under a statute) to halt litigation. If a plaintiff rejects such an offer and moves forward, and does not ultimately obtain at least that amount offered, then they owe the defendant the “costs” of the case from the date the offer of judgment was made. Defendants have been successful in other circuit courts throughout the country by using a rejected Rule 68 Offer of Judgment to dismiss cases, the logic being that a rejected Offer “moots” any underlying controversy or case.
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May 14
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On May 13, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Gaucho, LLC; Samba Brands Management; 7th & Barrow LLC; Avenue Spoon Inc.; Shimon Bokova; Danielle Billera; and Matthew Johnson (collectively, “Defendants”) who collectively own and operate the Sushi Samba restaurants in New York City, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, and Las Vegas. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of all servers, bussers, runners, bartenders, and other “Tipped Employees” who work or have worked at the following locations:
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May 12
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Governor Cuomo, frustrated from facing resistance and delays from the legislature in his attempts to raise the minimum wage rate once more, is resolute on making an increase a reality. This Thursday, the Governor will use his authority to direct the labor commissioner to convene a Wage Board and examine the current minimum wage in the fast-food industry. The board is expected to give its recommendations as to what it believes the minimum wage rate in this industry should be in about three months time. Recommendations, which achieved in this manner, would not require legislative approval to go into effect.
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May 11
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
The countless nail salons in New York City and surrounding areas, as documented by a recent NY Times article, have recently been placed under the microscope in regards to wage and hour violations and hazardous working conditions. Several violations have become apparent such as these salons paying its workers way below the minimum hourly wage rate, no overtime pay, not being paid for all hours worked, and often not being paid at all. Last year, the Department of Labor launched its first ever investigative nail salon sweep and found almost 120 violations in just 29 salons that were surveyed.
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Apr 13
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
The Office of the New York Attorney General has recently announced an investigation into certain employment policies utilized by 13 major retailers, including Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, Target, J. Crew, Sears, and TJX, that allow them to keep employees on unpredictable “on call” schedules. “On call shifts” require employees to call in to work a few hours prior to the start of their shift, or sometimes the night before, in order to find out whether or not they need to appear for work at their scheduled shift time. This provides the company with the ability to deny an employee’s services at a time much closer to the start of their scheduled shift. Further, if an employee’s services are not needed, that employee will not receive any pay for the day. This provides the employee with little recourse in the way of time to make alternative plans or find an alternative source of income.
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Apr 10
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
We are currently investigating several popular weight-loss and workout supplements labelled to contain the active ingredient acacia rigidula, a shrub native to parts of Mexico and southern Texas. A recent study analyzing multiple brands of acacia rigidula supplements found that a large percentage of the supposedly “natural” products actually contain the dangerous, lab-made stimulant BMPEA (beta-methylphenylethylamine). BMPEA is a chemical almost identical to amphetamine, an addictive stimulant that has been linked to many serious health conditions, including high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. Experts warn that it is becoming increasingly common for companies to spike weight-loss and workout supplements with amphetamine-like chemicals, then hide them on their labels under the names of obscure plants to give the impression they are natural botanical extracts. Specific products under investigation include the following:
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Apr 2
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On March 27, 2015, in the case of Scott v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted and denied in part Plaintiffs’ motion to compel production of particular documents in Defendant’s revised privilege log. The motion was filed on February 24, 2015 by Fitapelli & Schaffer LLP and Outten Golden, LLP on behalf of Plaintiffs, in response to Defendant’s privilege log, provided in discovery, which claimed Attorney-Client privilege over 30 documents requested for production by Plaintiffs.
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Mar 27
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On March 27, 2015, in the case of Flood v. Carlson Restaurants Inc., Judge Analisa Torres of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Defendants motion to transfer the action to the Northern District of Texas and to partially dismiss Plaintiffs’ FLSA minimum wage claim. Plaintiffs originally commenced this action on April 17, 2014, on behalf of themselves and all similarly situated current and former tipped workers – including servers, bussers, runners, bartenders, barbacks, and hosts – employed at T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants nationwide. The complaint alleged that Defendants failed to pay their employees at an overtime rate of time and one half for all over worked over 40 per workweek and also unlawfully paid employees less than the full statutory minimum wage while failing to properly avail themselves of the federal “tip credit.”
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Mar 26
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
In a recent 6-3 decision, in the case of Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., the Supreme Court has overturned a Fourth Circuit decision which granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendants, in regards to their failure to grant Plaintiff reasonable accommodations under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Specifically, Plaintiff was a pregnant postal service worker who was told by her Doctor that she should not attempt to lift more than 20 pounds while pregnant. However, since the postal service often requires employees to lift up to 70 pounds, Plaintiff required an accommodation during her pregnancy. When Defendants refused to accommodate Plaintiff and refused to allow her to continue working while pregnant, Plaintiff sued alleging pregnancy discrimination.
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Mar 26
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On March 26, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Dinosaur Restaurants, LLC, JLN-Store, Inc. f/k/a Dino-Store, Inc., Soros Strategic Partners LP, and John Stage, who collectively own and operated the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que franchise. This lawsuit is specifically filed on behalf of all servers, bussers, runners, bartenders, and other “Tipped Workers” who work or have worked at the following Dinosaur Bar-B-Que restaurants: the Harlem location at 700 West 125th Street, New York, New York 10027; the Brooklyn location at 604 Union Street, Brooklyn, New York 11215; the Syracuse location at 246 West Willow Street, Syracuse, New York 13202; the Buffalo location at 301 Franklin Street, Buffalo, New York 14202; 99 Court Street, Rochester, New York 14604; and the Troy location at 377 River Street, Troy, New York 12180.
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Mar 24
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On March 24, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Landry’s, Inc. and its subsidiaries McCormick & Schmick Restaurant Corp. and Landry’s Seafood House-Arlington, Inc., on behalf of all servers, bussers, and other tipped workers who have worked at the “McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood & Steaks” that operated in New York City between March 24, 2009 and June 13, 2014.
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Mar 19
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On March 17, 2015, the New York State Assembly took a major step forward in the protection of workers’ rights with their passage of the Paid Family Leave Insurance Act (A3870) by a margin of 84 to 43. This new bill will provide qualified employees with up to 12 weeks of paid leave, with benefits of up to $545 per week. The funding for the benefits will be taken from an employee payroll deduction that will initially amount to, at most, 45 cents per week.
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Mar 12
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On March 11, 2015 the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reached a precedential holding in the case of McMaster v. Eastern Armored Services, Inc., affirming the District Court’s opinion that the professional motor carrier exemption does not apply for motor carrier employees who, either in whole or in part, drive vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds. This case was brought by an employee for an armored courier company who spent roughly 51% of her time working on vehicles weighing over 10,000 pounds, and the remaining 49% of her time working on vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds. She filed a federal action under the Fair Labor Standards Act claiming that she was entitled to overtime wages for all the hours she worked over 40 in an individual workweek. The main issue in this case was whether or not Plaintiff’s employer was exempt from paying her overtime under the Motor Carrier Act Exemption.
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