Mar 6
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Allstar Marketing Group (“Allstar”), the company behind “As Seen on TV” products such as the Snuggie, Perfect Bacon Bowl, and Magic Mesh, has recently agreed to an $8 million dollar settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over their alleged illegal use of deceptive marketing and sales practices. The Federal Trade Commission’s investigation and subsequent settlement negotiations come in response to hundreds of consumer filed complaints pertaining to the company’s practices.
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Feb 24
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration has announced today that the New York State sub-minimum wage rate for all tipped workers will be raised to $7.50 an hour at the end of 2015. This is a substantial and well warranted increase from the current tipped wage rate of $5.00, and will bring the tipped wage rate much closer to the regular minimum wage rate, which will itself increase from $8.75 to $9.00 at the end of 2015.
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Feb 12
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On February 11, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners of Walgreen Co. and Duane Reade Inc. (collectively, “Defendants”) on behalf of all consumers nationwide who have purchased the following “Finest Nutrition” brand supplements: Gingko Biloba, St. John’s Wort, Ginseng, and Echinacea.
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Feb 10
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
A recent summary order issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the case of Jacob v. Duane Reade, Inc. affirmed the District Court’s holding that the lawsuit, pertaining to a class of misclassified Assistant Store Managers, meets the requirements for class certification, at least in regards to questions of liability. The Plaintiff class consists of Assistant Store Managers at New York Duane Reade locations who believe that they have been misclassified by their employer as exempt and are therefore entitled to an overtime premium for all hours worked in excess of 40 per workweek. The District Court initially granted Plaintiffs request for class certification. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Comcast v. Behrend, Duane Reade moved for reconsideration, and the District Court granted Duane Reade’s motion in part, decertifying the class with respect to damages only. Duane Reade appealed this decision, and on review, the Court of Appeals upheld the District Court’s decision.
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Feb 6
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
The New York State Attorney General’s Office has recently sent out Cease and Desist Notifications to GNC, Target, Walgreens and Walmart, alleging their herbal supplements fail to contain the advertised ingredients.
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Feb 6
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Anthem Inc., the country’s second-largest health insurer, operating under numerous brands such as Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, has recently fell victim to a devastating and large scale “sophisticated external cyberattack.” The real victims, however, are the 80 million Anthem customers who may have had crucial private information, such as names, Social Security numbers, street addresses, birthdays, addresses, email and employment information, and employment data, accessed and retrieved by the currently unknown culprit. This is just the latest in a recent string of large scale hacks on corporate networks, which include JPMorgan Chase, Target Corp., and Home Depot Inc.
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Feb 5
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
A sexual harassment claim filed on behalf of two female former Assembly employees, Victoria Burhans and Chloe Rivera, against their employer, former New York State Assemblyman Vito Lopez, has recently resulted in a tentative settlement agreement (pending approval by state officials) which will see both the state and Lopez himself paying out significant damages. Specifically, the settlement awards Plaintiffs a total of $580,000 in damages, with $545,000 of that being paid by the state and $45,000 being paid by Lopez. Additionally, Lopez resigned from the Assembly in May 2013 after the Joint Commission on Public Ethics found that he had previously sexually harassed at least eight young female employees.
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Feb 4
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On January 20, 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 granted Plaintiffs’ motion for a nationwide conditional collective action certification, court-authorized notice, and expedited discovery. 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.” and also shaved hours and required employees to work off the clock.
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Jan 14
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Recently, a Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court Eastern District of New York denied Defendants’ motion for class decertification in the case of Ravenell v. Avis Budget Car Rental, LLC. Plaintiffs, shift managers employed by “Avis Rent a Car”, filed a collective action lawsuit to challenge their classification as exempt under the FLSA administrative and executive exemption, and to recover overtime compensation. While the class was previously conditionally certified as a collective action, Defendants sought to seek decertification after the discovery period ended. At that point in the trial, the Court has a fuller record, which allows it to make a more knowledgeable decision as to the need for class certification.
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Jan 6
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On January 5, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a collective action complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners and operators of “S. Katzman Produce”, a produce wholesaler located in the New York City Terminal Market at Hunts Point in the Bronx, on behalf of all foremen and other “Non-Exempt Workers” who have worked there.
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Jan 6
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Looming revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) are likely to make millions of previously exempt American workers eligible for overtime pay and other protections provided by the FLSA. While there has been no official proposal released as of yet, an executive action issued in 2014 is likely to lead to revisions of certain FLSA criteria and standards which have remained mostly stagnant since as far back as 2004. Specifically, analysts and policy makers expect significant changes to the current salary threshold which determines whether employees are exempt from the FLSA as “white-collar employees”. Currently, the FLSA provides that the only salaried employees who are automatically qualified for overtime are those who receive less than $455 per week, or $23,660 per year. However, due to inflation, the amount of salaried employees who fall under this threshold is now only around 11%. It is expected that the new FLSA revisions will greatly increase this threshold, and in turn, greatly increase the amount of salaried employees who are automatically entitled to receive the time-and-a-half overtime rate for all hours worked over 40 per workweek.
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Jan 6
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
As of December 29, 2014, a new bill has been signed into law amending various aspects of the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). This includes various changes to the Wage Theft Prevention Act (“WTPA”), and how the NYLL interacts with limited liability companies, contractors, and successor employers. One of the major components of the new bill is the repeal of the WTPA’s annual wage notice requirement. Outside of the hospitality industry, which must still issue new pay notices to their employees earning minimum wage in 2015 and 2016, employers are now no longer required to provide annual wage notices and to obtain employee acknowledgments. However, employers must still obtain signed acknowledgments at the time of hire from new employees showing that they received wage notices, and the acknowledgments must be written in their primary language.
Another significant change is a substantial increase in penalties for violations of the WTPA. Failure to provide wage notices will go from costing employers $50 per each week the violation continues up to a maximum of $2,500, to $50 per day for a violation, up to a maximum of $5,000. Failure to provide proper paystubs in compliance with the WTPA will now cost $250 per violation, as opposed to the previous $100 per violation, and the statutory cap on these damages has increased to $5,000.
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Dec 26
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On December 24, 2014, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners of “Cheetahs Gentlemen’s Club & Restaurant” (“Cheetahs”), located at 252 West 43rd Street, New York, New York 10036 on behalf of all exotic dancers who have worked there.
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Dec 22
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On December 19, 2014, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners and operators of “Life Protect”, including all of its present, former, and future direct and indirect parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, and other related entities.
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Dec 22
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit on December 19, 2014, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners of “Stars Staffing Services”, “SPS Resources, Inc.”, “Hornblower Group Inc.”, “Hornblower Yachts, Inc., and “Hornblower New York, LLC” on behalf of all servers, bussers, bartenders, barbacks, and other “Tipped Workers” who have worked for Star Staffing Services (“Star Staffing”), and all Tipped Workers who have worked for Star Hospitality Group at private events at Hornerblower Cruises and Events (“Hornblower Cruises”) in New York.
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Dec 22
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On December 19, 2014, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners and operators of “District 12”, a bar and restaurant located at 4892 Broadway, New York, New York 10034 on behalf of all cooks, line cooks, food preparers, dishwashers, and other “Non-Exempt Workers” who have worked there.
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Dec 19
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On December 18. 2014, a Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered that, in the case of Scott v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., certain documents alleged to be covered by the Defendant’s Attorney-Client Privilege were put in issue by the Defendants, and were therefore not protected by any privilege.
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Dec 18
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On December 18, 2014, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Petco Animal Supplies Stores, Inc. (“Petco”) on behalf of all pet stylists, groomers, and bathers who have worked at any Petco location nationwide.
The lawsuit alleges that Petco has instituted widespread unlawful policies which burden the rights of their employees and are in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), in addition to the wage and hour and/or labor laws of New York, California, Connecticut, and New Jersey. The complaint claims that Petco paid employees in the Plaintiff class piece-rate wages based on a percentage of what Petco charged for their grooming services, and in turn, the number of dogs groomed. Specifically, the complaint alleges that
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Dec 12
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners of “The Russian Tea Room”, located at 150 W. 57th Street, New York, New York 10019 on behalf of all servers, bussers, runners, baristas, bartenders, barbacks, and other “Tipped Workers” who have worked there.
The lawsuit alleges that the owners of this restaurant have instituted widespread policies which violate the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”).
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Dec 9
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On December 9, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States found in the case of Integrity Staffing Solutions Inc. v. Busk that warehouse employees were not entitled to compensation under the FLSA for the 25 minutes they spent at work each day waiting to undergo and undergoing security screenings. The case was initially brought before a district court, where it was dismissed for failure to state a claim. However, on appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th circuit held that the post-shift security screenings that were previously found to be non-compensable postliminary activities were actually integral and indispensible to the employee’s principal activities since they were performed for the employer’s benefit, and were therefore compensable. The Supreme Court of the United States, on review, reached the opposite conclusion and held that security screenings were not integral and indispensible to the employee’s principal activities.
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Nov 20
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On November 19, 2014, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners of “The Palm” restaurants, including New York locations such as: “The Palm” located at 250 West 50th Street; “The Palm” located at 837 Second Avenue; “The Palm Too” located at 840 Second Avenue; “The Palm Restaurant” located at 206 West Street; “The Palm Restaurant at Huntting Inn” located at 94 Main Street; and “The Palm Bar and Grill” located at JFK Airport, International Terminal 4 on behalf of all servers, server assistants, back waiters, bussers, runners, bartenders, barbacks, and other “Tipped workers” who have worked at these restaurants.
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Nov 20
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On November 19, 2014, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners of Souen Soho, Souen Noodle, and Souen 13 (the “Souen Restaurants”) on behalf of all food preparers, salad preparers, dishwashers, pantry workers, food packagers, servers, bussers, delivery persons, and other “Non-Exempt workers” who have worked at these restaurants.
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Nov 14
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Recently, a class action lawsuit filed in 2009 against the Midtown strip club Rick’s Cabaret has resulted in the return of over $10 million dollars in back wages to the club’s current and former dancers and entertainers. Rick’s Cabaret instituted a policy by which it refused to pay its dancers and entertainers any wages whatsoever, and even charged its dancers $60 per shift. Rick’s Cabaret also collected 2 of every 20 “Dance Dollars” that dancers received through credit card payments from customers, in addition to a $4 fee. In this recent decision, the Plaintiff class successfully challenged Rick’s Cabaret’s wage policy and “Dance Dollar” policy as unlawful. The court found Rick’s Cabaret’s argument that performance fees for personal dances should offset a lack of wages to be unpersuasive. On this issue, the court specifically noted that these “performance fees” were in fact cash paid from customers directly to the dancers, and that the strip club already collected a separate service fee for the rooms rented for personal dances. The court held that dancers, as employees, were entitled to the full minimum wage for their hours worked. Further, the Judge held that the strip club’s policies of keeping 2 of every 20 “Dance Dollars” and charging customers a 4$ fee were misleading, since customers likely expected that the dancers were getting the full amount that they paid them. The remaining claim pertaining to how Rick’s Cabaret charged dancers $60 per shift is still being litigated.
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Nov 12
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit on November 12, 2014, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners of “SideBAR”, the Union Square location of “Little Town”, “Village Pourhouse”,“Hudson Terrace”, “Tres Carnes”, and “House of ‘Que” (the “Defendants”), on behalf of all servers, bussers, runners, bartenders, barbacks, and other “tipped workers” who have worked at either of these locations.
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Nov 12
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit on November 12, 2014, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Mexican Radio Corp., the owners of the “Mexican Radio” restaurants located at 19 Cleveland Place, New York, NY 10012 and 537 Warren Street, Hudson, NY 12543 (collectively, the “Mexican Radio Restaurants”), on behalf of all servers, bartenders, runners, supervisors, and other “tipped workers” who have worked at either of these locations.
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Nov 12
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit on November 12, 2014, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners of “Tolani”, located at 410 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10024, on behalf of all bartenders, barbacks, servers, bussers, runners, line cooks, food preparers, dishwashers, and other “Non-Exempt Workers” who have worked there.
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Nov 4
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Recently, the United States District Court for the Western District of New York denied Defendant Crab Addison, Inc.’s (“Crab Addison”) motion to dismiss a Plaintiff class’s minimum-wage claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) alleging that Defendants paid the Plaintiff class less than the full required minimum wage pursuant to a “tip credit”, while having them spend a significant amount of time performing non-tipped duties. In its prior decision, the Court granted Defendant’s motion to dismiss the FLSA minimum-wage claim because it failed to plausibly allege that Plaintiffs were paid below minimum wage for any particular week. However, Plaintiffs were granted leave to amend their complaint, and now assert that they were required to perform either unrelated non-tipped duties or an excessive amount of related non-tipped duties during every shift. Therefore, Plaintiffs alleged that they were paid less than minimum wage every individual week they worked. Plaintiffs specifically requested the full minimum wage for all unrelated non-tipped duties and for all related non-tip producing work that was performed during more than twenty-percent of a shift.
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Oct 29
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Recently, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee has signed off on a proposed class settlement between Publix Super Markets Inc. (“Publix”) and Erin Knights, individually and as a representative of a class (“Knights”). Knights brought an action under the Fair Credit and Reporting Act (“FCRA”), alleging that Publix’s computerized background check authorization webpage, which is included in their job application process, violated the FCRA. Specifically, Knights alleged that neither the background check application screen or any other part of the application process complied with the FCRA requirement that an entity procuring a consume report for employment reasons disclose that fact in a document that consists solely of that disclosure.
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Oct 27
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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 settled claims brought by unpaid interns and that may indicate that other similar proceedings have merit. The court still has to approve the settlement.
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Oct 14
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
In a recent decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has vacated and remanded the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York’s grant of summary judgment for Government Employees Insurance Company (“Geico”) against Plaintiffs Candace Harper, Lisa Hoyt, Mark Anthony Turner, and Allison M. Akers.
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Oct 8
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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, 2014).
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Oct 1
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On September 30, 2014, Defendant AT&T Mobility LLC just filed a joint motion with Plaintiffs asking the U.S. District Judge to approve the proposed settlement of $45 million to resolve a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges violations under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). The First Amended Complaint, which was filed on June 5, 2013, alleged that AT&T Mobility LLC violated the TCPA by placing calls using an automated telephone dialing system or a prerecorded voice message to cellular telephones without the express consent of the owner of those cellular telephone numbers.
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Oct 1
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
In a recent decision, on September 16, 2014, the Eastern District of New York granted Plaintiffs’, personal injury protection and medical payments claims adjusters (“adjusters”), motion for class certification of their New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) claims pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, while denying Defendant’s, Allstate Insurance Company, motion to decertify the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) collective. Perez v. Allstate Insurance Co., Nos.11 -1812 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 16, 2014).
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Oct 1
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On September 30, 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed an executive order increasing New York City’s workers wages which takes effect immediately. The Order expands the New York City’s Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, raising the Living Wage from $11.90 to $13.13 per hour – and likely to reach $15.22 per hour by the year 2019. The $13.13 per hour is the Living Wage without benefits or $11.50 per hour with benefits (up from $11.90 and $10.30, respectively).
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Sep 23
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On August 11, 2014, a former delivery driver filed a lawsuit in NY Federal Court against Pizza Hut, his former employer, seeking to recover for unpaid gratuities, overtime pay, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs. The delivery driver is claiming that he is entitled to the $2.75 “Delivery Fee” that Pizza Hut charged its customers for deliveries. He is alleging that this “Delivery Fee” was believed to be a service charge paid to the delivery driver by the customers; therefore they did not tip him for his services. Since the delivery driver never received any part of the “Delivery Fee,” he is suing in order to recover that as part of his wages. Thus, the delivery driver is alleging that Pizza Hut violated the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) by charging a mandatory service charge that is thought to be a gratuity for the employee, which in fact, is not shared with the employee.
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Sep 18
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
In an important decision for the advancement of employee rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”), on September 11, 2014, the Southern District of New York granted Defendant United States Tennis Association’s summary judgment motion finding that the Plaintiff umpires at the US Open were independent contractors rather than employees. Meyer v. United States Tennis Association, Nos.11 -06268 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 11, 2014).
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Sep 18
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On August 25, 2014, the Southern District of New York granted Plaintiffs’, plumbers, request for final certification and motion for partial summary judgment while denying Defendants Contract Callers, Inc., Michael Maguire, and William “Tim” Wertz’s motion to decertify the conditionally certified collective action and motion for summary judgment. McGlone v. Contract Callers, Inc., Nos.11 -3004 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 25, 2014).
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Aug 25
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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 & Fork located at 1606 1st Avenue, New York, New York. The lawsuit alleges that the Restaurant Workers were not paid the proper minimum wages, overtime pay, and spread-of-hours pay as required under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law. Additionally, the lawsuit seeks to recover damages related to misappropriated gratuities, failure to provide annual wage notices, and failure to provide accurate wage statements.
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Aug 25
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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 and one half their regular hourly wage rate as required under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law. The lawsuit is seeking unpaid overtime pay, spread-of-hours pay, and statutory penalties under the New York Labor Law.
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Aug 15
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
A federal judge preliminarily approved another substantial settlement in a class action lawsuit against Chase Bank USA under which Chase Bank USA will pay $34 million. The class action was originally filed on July 12, 2012 and alleged that Chase Bank USA violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by placing calls to consumers’ cell phones without their prior consent. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that Chase Bank USA used an automated dialing service with an “artificial or prerecorded voice” or sent text messages in order to collect upon a debt alleged to be owed.
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Aug 6
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Capital One and 3 other collection agencies have agreed to pay nearly $75.5 million to settle a consolidated class action alleging that Capital One violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The lawsuit was originally filed on December 10, 2012 in federal court and alleged that Capital One used prerecorded messages and an automated dialer to call customers’ cell phones in connection with an attempt to collect on credit card debt without first receiving prior express consent from the recipients of the calls. The settlement also notes that Capital One will change its business practice and develop a calling system to prevent the calling of cell phones with an autodialer unless the recipient of the call has provided prior express consent. The final approval hearing for the settlement is scheduled for December 2, 2014.
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Aug 1
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
In an important decision for the advancement of employee rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), on July 30, 2014 the Sixth Circuit held that the Northern District of Ohio erred in granting Defendant KeHE Distributors, LLC (“KeHE”) summary judgment on whether the Plaintiff sales representatives properly fell within the outside-sales-exemption and further erred in excluding from the collective action, employees that had signed agreements to waive their rights to participate in collective actions against KeHE. Killion v. KeHE Distributors, LLC, Nos. 13-3557/4350 (6th Cir. July 30, 2014).
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Jul 30
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
A class action lawsuit was filed on July 30, 2014 in the Southern District of New York against Raymours Furniture Company, Inc. (“Raymours”) alleges that the furniture chain failed to pay its Sales Associates, Home Furnishing Consultants and other commissioned employees (collectively, “Sale Associates”) overtime wages, commissions, spread-of-hours pay and other damages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). Other affected employees are current and former Sales Associates or similar employees who work or have worked for Raymours in New York within the past six years.
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Jul 30
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On July 30, 2014, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against Leros Point to Point, Inc. Leros Management, Inc. and its owners John Nyikos, Jeffrey Nyikos, and Christopher Nyikos (collectively “Leros”). The lawsuit alleges that Leros failed to pay its chauffeurs the appropriate overtime compensation as required under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law. The lawsuit also seeks to recover misappropriated service charges, unpaid commissions, and unlawful deductions.
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Jul 30
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On July 25, 2014, Judge Sullivan granted Plaintiffs’ motion to amend the complaint in the Gonyer v. Vane Line Bunkering case pending in the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York. The case was filed on November 23, 2013 against Vane Line Bunkering, a company providing maritime services in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk, and Charleston.
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Jul 28
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On July 17, 2014, a federal judge in the case, Bais Yaakov of Spring Valley v. Peterson’s Nelnet, LLC, preliminarily approved a $2.6 million settlement regarding claims against Peterson’s Nelnet LLC, a college and career planning company. The lawsuit was filed on January 3, 2011 in the United States District Court of New Jersey and alleged that Peterson’s Nelnet LLC violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by sending out more than 10,000 unsolicited and solicited fax advertisements without including the proper “opt-out” notices required under the law.
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Jul 24
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On July 23, 2014, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit against Roughlock LLC d/b/a Black Door and Steeplechase, Inc. d/b/a as Park Bar (collectively, the “Defendants” or the “Bars”) alleging that that Defendants failed to pay bartenders the proper minimum wages, overtime pay, and spread-of-hours pay as required under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). Additionally, the suit seeks to recover damages related to unlawful wage deductions, misappropriated gratuities, failure to provide wage notices or wage statements, and gender-based discrimination.
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Jul 21
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Barnes & Noble was denied summary judgment in Trimmer v Barnes & Noble, Inc. The plaintiffs in this case are Assistant Store Managers (“ASM”) who worked for Barnes and Noble and allege that they were misclassified as exempt employees and denied overtime wages in violation of the FLSA. In its motion for summary judgment, Barnes & Noble argued that the evidence in the record was sufficient to show that plaintiffs were properly classified under the executive and administrative exemptions.
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Jul 21
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
On June 24, 2013, Plaintiff Katherine Albin filed suit against her employer Thomas Pink, Inc., her employer’s parent company LVMH Moet Louis Vuitton and two senior managers, alleging that she failed to receive a promotion at work due to discrimination against her on the basis of a recent pregnancy. Plaintiff’s claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, New York State Executive Law and New York City Human Rights law arose after Plaintiff returned from a three month maternity leave and expressed interest in a resigning manager’s position. Albin v. LVMH Moet Louis Vuitton, Inc., et al., No. 13-cv-4356 (S.D.N.Y. July 8, 2014). Between November 2011 and March 2012, Defendants sporadically met with Plaintiff to interview her for the position, during which Defendants were noncommittal about the length of the interview process. Defendants informed Plaintiff on March 6, 2012 that a different candidate had been hired for the position. Plaintiff alleges that this new manager had less relevant experience than Plaintiff, had not worked in several years, had previously only worked at the Hamptons branch as opposed to the New York City branch, and was of an age at which it was unlikely she would have a child now and in the future.
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Jul 14
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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 policy of requiring servers to contribute 3% of their gross sales to a tip pool. These proceeds were then distributed to restaurant bartenders, expediters and busboys. Plaintiffs claimed that the expediters should have been excluded from this pool as they were not “tipped employees” under the FLSA as they predominately worked in the kitchen and rarely interacted with customers.
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