Annette Charles, most famous for her role as Cha Cha DiGregorio in the 1978 movie musical Grease, lost her battle with cancer at age 63 on August 4, 2011. As the self-proclaimed “best dancer at St. Bernadette’s,” Charles’ character famously hit the floor with John Travolta during the dance competition scene. Charles also appeared on TV’s The Incredible Hulk and Magnum, P.I. She later left the screen to become a speech professor at California State University Northridge. Full article.

If a person dies without a will, then the decedent’s estate will pass according to the laws of intestacy. New York legislature has designed a scheme of distribution that provides default rules for distribution in the absence of a will. Under the statutory framework of intestacy, a surviving spouse is guaranteed the first $50,000 whether the decedent dies with or without a will. If the decedent has surviving children, the children will split one-half of the remaining amount with one-half of the balance to the surviving spouse. If there is no surviving spouse or children, the entire estate passes equally to the deceased person’s parents.

The attorneys at Leeds, Morelli & Brown, P.C. have worked with a variety of families in Nassau and Suffolk counties, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Staten Island. For questions regarding estate planning, please contact an attorney at the Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C. law firm for a free consultation at 1-888-556-2529 or visit the firm’s website at www.lbestatelaw.com.

Four Food Studio & Cocktail Salon in Melville, Long Island, has been sued for failing to pay servers a 20 percent mandatory gratuity which is charged to customers hosting catered events and for unpaid wages owed to the employees, as well as damages and attorney fees. Jeffrey K. Brown, partner at Leeds Morelli & Brown PC, of Carle Place, said, “Regrettably, there are too many greedy restaurants that rob hardworking employees during these difficult economic times of the money that is rightfully theirs.” If this lawsuit is accepted as a class action, the suit could involve more than 70 employees which includes servers, busboys, cleanup staff and bartenders. “These alleged illegal pay practices have cost the employees of Four Food thousands of lost dollars and under the law, these businesses must be penalized for their failure to comply with the law,” said Len Leeds who is also a partner at Leeds Morelli & Brown.

Currently, the FLSA requires that employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage which is $7.25 per hour. Employers who violate these provisions are liable to their workers for the full amount of unpaid wages as well as an equal amount in liquidated damages. Employers must also maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment. Furthermore, employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who exercise their rights under the law. For more information about the FLSA, call the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or its Long Island office at 516-338-1890. Information is also available at http://www.dol.gov/whd.

Based in Carle Place, NY, Leeds Morelli & Brown, LLP is a New York City area law firm which is dedicated to providing guidance and representation to clients with concerns involving a broad range of legal practice area, including labor law violations. For more information call 1-800-585 4658 or visit www.lmblaw.com.

A recent law in Tennessee was signed which made it illegal for local governments to creating their own anti - discrimination laws.  For example, this included a recent code which banned employers from discriminating against gay and lesbian applicants. Initially, the law was supported by the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce. However, the law lost support when the bill garnered controversy. Read more: http://www.newser.com/story/119341/tennessee-governor-bill-haslam-voids-nashville-law-that-prohibited-anti-gay-discrimination.html

While discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation is not itself is not yet protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but this law does makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. Please visit the EEOC’s website for more information: www.eeoc.gov/policy/vii.html

Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C. is a well established equal opportunity and anti-discrimination firm in New York.  If you or someone you know has been affected by discrimination or a violation of their civil rights please feel free to contact Leeds, Morelli & Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658 for a free consultation or view their web page at www.lmblaw.com.

Former New York Gov. Hugh Carey has died at the age of 92 on August 7, 2011. Carey served as New York’s 51st governor from 1975 through 1982. Perhaps Carey is most remembered for leading the rescue effort that brought New York City back from the brink of bankruptcy during its 1975 fiscal crisis. Hugh Leo Carey married the late Helen Owen Carey on Feb. 27, 1947, in The Lady Chapel of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the two raised 14 children together. Carey is survived by 11 children, 25 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.  Full article.

The new 2011 estate tax laws took effect January 1, 2011.  Estates with a taxable estate over $5 million will have to pay taxes. All estates under $5 million will be exempt. There is also an advantageous “stepped - up basis” in all inherited property. Stepped - up tax basis means that if you inherit property, the new tax basis of the property is its value on the date of death. As a result, if you inherit property and later sell it, you will pay capital gains tax based only on the value of the property as of the date of death.   

The attorneys at Leeds, Morelli & Brown, P.C. have worked with a variety of families in Nassau and Suffolk counties, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Staten Island.  For questions regarding estate planning, please contact an attorney at the Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C. law firm for a free consultation at 1-888-556-2529 or visit the firm’s website at www.lbestatelaw.com.             

Major exterminating company Terminix and its parent company, ServiceMaster, will pay $140,000 and furnish other relief to settle a sexual harassment. In a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), two female employees at a Terminix facility in Salt Lake City were repeatedly sexually harassed by a supervisor.  EEOC charged that other supervisors were aware of the misconduct but failed to address it. The victims’ supervisor suggested to the female employees that they not wear tops to work, wear nothing but Vaseline to work and should be strippers so they could give him a lap dance. The harasser’s supervisor was also aware of the sexual harassment but failed to report or correct it. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. Full article.

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. When investigating allegations of sexual harassment, EEOC looks at the whole record: the circumstances, such as the nature of the sexual advances, and the context in which the alleged incidents occurred. A determination on the allegations is made from the facts on a case-by-case basis. For more information: EEOC Website.

Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC, dedicates a large area of practice to employment law. Our firm has had considerable success in matters of employment discrimination throughout Long Island and the New York City area. For more information, contact Leeds Morelli & Brown at 1-800-585-4658 for a free consultation.

The state Attorney General’s Office has order a cleaning company, KJR Cleaning, to pay $26,000 in fines and restitution for violating the state’s prevailing wage, independent contractor and payroll record-keeping laws.  They are also being fined for retaliating against an employee who filed a complaint.  The violations trace back to an investigation performed on the premises in February 2010, where the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division received a complaint alleging that workers had not been paid properly at two separate prevailing wage jobs at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.  The company has now been ordered to pay more than $4,000 in restitution and $22,000 to pay in penalty to the Commonwealth of the state. Full article

In Massachusetts, wage and hour laws include anti-retaliation provisions protecting employees who bring violations to the Attorney General. It is illegal for an employer to penalize, discharge, or discriminate against an employee who reports violations. It is also illegal for employers to threaten or intimidate employees.

Further, employers are required to preserve payroll records for at least 3 years, collective bargaining agreements, and sales and purchase records. For a full listing of the types of records an employer must maintain, see the Wage and Hour Division Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements Under the FLSA.

If you or someone you know is not being fully compensated for all the time you work, or your employer has improperly calculated your hours worked, then you may be entitled to overtime and additional compensation. At Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC, our lawyers have much experience in handling employment disputes and knowledge in wage and hour law. Our office focuses on disputes dealing with overtime claims and wage and hour law violations, including violations resulting from improper wage and overtime calculations. We represent employees in wage and hour violations throughout Long Island and the New York City metropolitan area, as well as across the country. For a consultation, contact Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC  at 1-888-5-JOBLAW.

Former New York Giants player, David Tyree, has spoken out against gay marriage. When he was interviewed with the anti - gay group known as the National Organization for Marriage, Tyree also said that two men or two women were incapable of raising a child. When he was asked about the issue of whether gay marriage was legalized across the US, he stated that, “This will be the beginning of our country sliding toward, it’s a strong word, but anarchy.” Read more: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Gay-marriage-former-Super-Bowl-star-speaks-out-061511

Currently, 6 states, including Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont, the District of Columbia, and New York now grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The issue is before the courts in California.

In 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was enacted to prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin in the workplace and in society in general. Then in 2000, the Hate Crimes Act of 2000 was enacted by NY, which made it a crime to commit a specified offense against an individual based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. See: http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/legalservices/ch107_hate_crimes_2000.htm

Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC are an experienced in the area of discrimination law. For more information, contact Leeds, Morelli and Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658 for a free consultation.

Investigations into the Massey Energy company safety records revealed the company falsified reports to cover safety issues at the West Virginia coal mine where 29 minors died. The explosion in April 2010 was the worst in U.S. mining in four decades. Massey Energy used a double - accounting system to deceive inspectors. The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration discovered the company kept internal records of safety problems at the Upper Big Branch mine and of what had been done to correct them. But these records were not transferred to official books made available to state inspectors. While keeping two sets of books is not unlawful, the company must document and record the hazards associated with the examination in the official record book. The company failed to do so. Full article.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. To help ensure that employees are free to participate in safety and health activities, the Act prohibits any person from discharging or retaliating against any employee because the employee has exercised rights under the Act. These rights include complaining to OSHA and seeking an OSHA inspection, participating in an OSHA inspection, and participating or testifying in any proceeding related to an OSHA inspection. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC, dedicates a large area of practice to employment law.  Our firm has had considerable success in matters of employment discrimination throughout Long Island and the New York City area.  For more information, contact Leeds, Morelli and Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658 for a free consultation.

The estate of late actress Anna Nicole Smith has lost a Supreme Court battle over her deceased husband’s fortune. The issue to decide at court was whether Smith’s estate received a proper hearing in federal courts, and whether state probate courts should be the proper venue for hearing such cases. J. Howard Marshall was married to Smith for 14 months before he died in 1995. His will left nearly all assets and trust to his son from a previous marriage, E. Pierce Marshall. He left Smith almost nothing. She later sued and claimed her deceased husband had promised to give her more than $300 million. Read: http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/06/23/scotus.anna.nicole.smith/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Len Leeds is a senior partner at Leeds Morelli and Brown, PC who represented Smith in life and during the battle over her deceased husband’s estate.  If a decedent dies without a last will and testament, the estate is subject to intestacy by the New York Surrogate Court. Under the Estate Planning and Trusts Law (EPTL) 4.1-1, when a person dies without a last will and testament, all distribution, debts, administration expenses and reasonable funeral expenses will be deducted but all estate taxes shall be disregarded. Distribution of the estate shall then be as follows. If a decedent is survived by a spouse and issue, then fifty thousand dollars and one-half of the residue estate will go to the spouse, and the balance remaining will pass to the children. If a spouse dies without children, then the whole estate passes to the spouse. If there is no spouse and no children, then the whole estate will pass to one or both surviving parents. See: http://www.jdbar.com/Statutes/eptl-4-1_1.html

The attorneys at Leeds, Morelli & Brown, P.C. have extensive experience with respect to all areas of estate planning and protective estate measures in Nassau and Suffolk counties, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Staten Island, as well as nationally. For questions regarding estate planning, please contact an attorney at the Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C. law firm for a free consultation at 1-888-556-2529 or visit the firm’s website at www.lbestatelaw.com.

Actress Denise Richards adopted a baby girl. The actress, 40, revealed the adoption occurred domestically and she named the baby Eloise Joni Richards. This makes number three for the single mother. Richards had her first two children with ex-husband Charlie Sheen. Lola is 6 and Sam is 7. Full article.

Under New York law, if you are adopted, or if you placed a child for adoption, or if you are the biological sibling of an adopted person, you may wish to learn more about your birth family. The New York State Health Department’s Adoption Registry facilitate that information. Three kinds of information are available: non-identifying, identifying and medical.

·         Non-identifying Information: If you are adopted or if you are the biological sibling of an adopted person, you can get non-identifying information about your birth parents even if they do not register with the Adoption Registry or consent to sharing. This includes their general appearance, religion, ethnicity, race, education, occupation, etc; and the name of the agency that arranged the adoption, and the facts and circumstances relating to the nature and cause of the adoption.

·         Identifying Information: If all are registered and all have given their final consents, adoptees and their birth parents, or adoptees and their biological siblings can share their current names and addresses. If only one parent signed the surrender agreement or consented to the adoption, then the registration of the other parent is not needed for the exchange of identifying information between the adoptee and the registered birth parent.

·         Medical Information: Birth parents can give medical and psychological information to the Registry any time after the adoption. If the adoptee is already registered, the information will be shared with him or her. If the adoptee is not registered, the information will be kept until the adoptee registers. The information is important to adoptees because it can indicate if they have a higher risk of some diseases. Medical information updates must be certified by a licensed health care provider.

For more information please visit the NY Department of Health website.

The attorneys at Leeds, Morelli & Brown, P.C. are experienced in all domestic relations matters, and have represented families in Nassau and Suffolk counties, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Staten Island.  For any questions concerning domestic relations matters, contact an attorney at the Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C. law firm for a free consultation at 1-888-556-2529.  Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C.’s divorce website is located at www.lbdivorcelaw.com.