NY Class Action lawsuit against LEO Pharma Inc.

March 28, 2012 By

In New York, a federal class action lawsuit has been charged against LEO Pharma Inc. for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws. It is alleged that the Parsippany, N.J. based pharmaceutical company misclassified sales representatives as salaried exempt employees. They also failed to pay overtime to its employees. The lawsuit does state how many employees are involved in the case. Read More

According to New York wage and hour laws, if you work more than six (6) hours in one day, you may be entitled to a lunch break or meal break of at least 30 minutes. Employers are not entitled to pay for his time, but an employer is not allowed to force an employee to work or allowing an employee to work during this break time. Furthermore, in all industries and occupations, employees are given an additional 20 minutes between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. and for those employed on a shift starting before 11 a.m. and continuing after 7 p.m. Learn More at http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/meal.htm#NewYork.

In addition to New York wage and hour laws, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), is an Act that establishes standards for minimum wages, overtime pay, record-keeping, and child labor. These standards affect more than 130 million workers, both full time and part time, in the private and public sectors. As a penalty, willful violators of these rights may be prosecuted criminally and fined up to $10,000. A second conviction may result in imprisonment. Employers who willfully or repeatedly violate the minimum wage or overtime pay requirements are subject to civil money penalties of up to $1,100 per violation. See: http://www.dol.gov/compliance/guide/minwage.htm#EmplRights; For more information, see: http://www.dol.gov/

If your company requires you to be on duty during your lunch break, or fails to provide you with a meal-time break, you may have a claim for wage and house law violation. At Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC, our lawyers have extensive experience in handling overtime claims and wage and hour law violations, which include violations based on meal-time policies, servicing injured parties throughout Long Island, the New York Metropolitan area, as well as nation-wide. Contact Leeds, Morelli and Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658 for more information or for a free consultation.

Filed Under: Employment Law, Overtime Pay Tagged With:

Back Wages: 3 Long Island Pizzerias Fined More Than $181,000 In Back Wages

June 6, 2011 By

The U.S. Department of Labor has fined three well-known Long Island pizzerias in Bellmore, Massapequa, and Bethpage, each doing business as Gino’s Pizza Pasta Restaurant, for a total of $181,544 in overtime back wages to 61 employees. The pizzerias were also fined $22,002 in civil money penalties to pay the government for willfully violating the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Investigators found that the employers had violated the FLSA by paying workers “straight time” wages for all hours worked, rather than time and one-half for hours worked beyond 40 per week, as well as falsified time cards in order to claim workers were being paid accurate wages. This was done in violation of the FLSA’s record-keeping provisions. See: http://www.dol.gov/whd/media/press/whdpressVB3.asp?pressdoc=Northeast/20110421.xml

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.

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 extensive 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

Filed Under: Employment Law, Labor Abuses, Overtime Pay Tagged With: , , ,

Budget Cuts Affecting NY State Court System

June 6, 2011 By

As the budget cuts begin, about 74 Administrative Employees have lost their jobs in the NY State Court system in Manhattan. Layoffs will eventually total about 400 to 500 throughout New York. These layoff have not occurred for the past 20 years.  The layoffs come after a directive from Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the NY State Legislature to cut $170 million from the courts’ budget for the fiscal year of 2011.  Thus far, the majority of job cuts included computer programmers, secretarial staff, and temporary employees who do not receive insurance coverage or other benefits and were in data-processing positions. It is reported that the bulk of the layoffs will be imposed by mid-May. Currently, the court system has about 15,200 non-judicial employees. Read more: http://www.law.com/jsp/nylj/PubArticleNY.jsp?id=1202490827322&src=EMC-Email&et=editorial&bu=New%20York%20Law%20Journal%20&pt=New%20York%20Law%20Journal%20Legal%20Alert&cn=break042011&kw=58%20Given%20Pink%20Slips%20as%20Court%20Layoffs%20Begin&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and other laws specifically govern which employees can receive overtime pay and the minimum amounts that employers have to pay. The FLSA establishes standards for minimum wages, overtime pay, record keeping, and child labor. The Act applies to employers that oversee employees who engage in interstate commerce, produce goods for interstate commerce, or handle, sell, or work on goods or materials that have been moved in or produced for interstate commerce.  The Act covers the following regardless of their annual dollar amount in income: hospitals; institutions engaged in the care of the sick, aged, mentally ill, or disabled who reside on the premises; schools for children who are mentally or physically disabled or gifted; preschools, elementary and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education; and federal, state, and local government agencies.  For more information, see: http://www.dol.gov/compliance/guide/minwage.htm 

Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC is a respected employment and labor law firm throughout Long Island, the New York Metropolitan area. Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC lawyers have experience handling overtime claims and wage and hour law violations, including violations resulting from the improper classification of employees as salaried, exempt employees based on salary. 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. For more information, contact Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658 for a free consultation.

Filed Under: Employment Law, Overtime Pay Tagged With:

U.S. District Court Certifies Class Action Lawsuit Against JC Penny Stores

May 24, 2011 By

A class-action lawsuit filed by group of employees who claim the company that provides janitorial services at JC Penny Stores in New York and New Jersey hasn’t paid them overtime is proceeding in Long Island federal court. U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert has certified the lawsuit, filed in 2009 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Central Islip, against Ultimate Services Inc. and an executive of the company, Fred Goldring, as a class action.  The employees, all of whom live and work on Long Island, alleged that the cleaning company “regularly required” them to work more than 40 hours a week, but did not pay them overtime or for all of the hours they had worked.  There are more than 100 workers in this class action lawsuit, represented by Carle Place law firm, Leeds Morelli and Brown, P.C.

The federal overtime provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Unless exempt, employees covered by the Act must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a work week at a rate not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay. There is no limit in the Act on the number of hours employees aged 16 and older may work in any work week. The Act does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest, unless overtime is worked on such days.  Some categories of employees are excluded by federal law from the requirement to receive one and one-half times their regular, straight-time rate of pay.  The occupations excluded by federal law are outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), listed by the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division at
US Department of Labor website.  New York State follows these exclusions but requires that they receive at least one and one half times the minimum rate of $7.15 for their overtime hours.

The attorneys of Leeds Morelli and Brown, P.C. are experienced and determined employment law practitioners who will fight hard to make sure your rights are preserved.  If you find your employer is engaging in questionable discriminatory behavior, we urge you to contact an attorney at Leeds, Morelli & Brown, P.C. for a free consultation at 1-888- 5 JOB LAW or our firm’s website at www.lmblaw.com.

Filed Under: Employment Law, Labor Abuses, Overtime Pay Tagged With: , ,

Dr. Pepper Snapple Group’s Unjust Business Practices

September 16, 2010 By

Dr Pepper Snapple Group CEO Larry Young earned $6.5 million last year. However, he has proposed to cut $1.50 an hour from the salaries of 350 skilled workers, while freezing pension and health care at the Mott’s applesauce plant in Williamson, N.Y.  In total, the Dr Pepper Snapple Group made $555 million in profits in 2009.  Workers at the Mott’s Williamson plant, who process half of the state’s apples into juice or sauce, have been on strike since May in opposition to the corporate-imposed $1.50 hourly pay cut. Northeastern University economist Andrew Sum says Mott’s, like most U.S. corporations, is keeping the profit. It has not been reinvested in new capital equipment and not used to help purchase new technology.  Read complete article

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is administered by the Wage and Hour Division (WHD). The Act establishes standards for minimum wages, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor. The Act applies to employers that oversee employees who engage in interstate commerce, produce goods for interstate commerce, or handle, sell, or work on goods or materials that have been moved in or produced for interstate commerce. The Act does not cover companies with less than $500,000 in annual dollar volume of business. However, the Act does cover the following regardless of their annual dollar amount: hospitals; institutions engaged in the care of the sick, aged, mentally ill, or disabled who reside on the premises; schools for children who are mentally or physically disabled or gifted; preschools, elementary and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education; and federal, state, and local government agencies.  The Act also covers domestic service workers, such as day workers, housekeepers, chauffeurs, cooks, or full time babysitters, if they receive at least $1,700 in 2009 in cash wages from one employer in a calendar year, or if they work a total of more than eight hours a week for one or more employers. See: http://www.dol.gov/compliance/guide/minwage.htm

The attorneys at Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC, are devoted to obtaining justice for clients who are deprived of just compensation and fair labor protections. If you or someone you know has been faced with a labor dispute, unpaid overtime, wage dispute, or slave labor, please contact Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC at 1-888-585-4658, One Old Country Road, Suite 347, Carle Place, NY, 11514-1851.

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Political Maneuvering in the New York Senate May Deprive Farm Workers Basic Rights

January 26, 2010 By

By Brandon Sipherd

2010 was supposed to be the year New York’s farm workers and field hands were to receive rights and protections enjoyed by all other workers.  However, this year it seems some animals will have more protections than tens of thousands of farm workers and field hands.

These workers want to have the right to overtime pay, the right to have minimal time off, and the right to organize and collectively bargain.  Yet, the state of New York continues to deny farm workers a guaranteed unpaid day off from work each week while carriage horses receive five weeks of vacation per year and there is a daily limit on the hours they can work.

The New York Assembly has passed such measures in the past and currently a majority of Democrats and Republicans support the proposed legislation granting farm workers these rights.  Last week, the proposed bill passed through the appropriate committees in order to bring the bill into legislation.

The Labor Committee, which has jurisdiction over changes in labor law, approved the bill.   The bill then should have passed to the Codes Committee, which oversees laws that impose fines.  However, last week state Senator John Sampson, who promised to deliver basic labor rights to farm and dairy workers, sent the bill to the Agriculture Committee.  This is a violation of New York Senate rules, which allow only committees that are directly related to proposed legislation make amendments before passing it along to the entire Senate for a vote.  The Agriculture Committee only oversees changes to specific agricultural laws (not labor laws) and, therefore, has no business amending the bill.

However, Senator Darrel Aubertine, overseer of the Agriculture Committee, is under much political pressure because of this bill.  Samson is afraid that this pressure will cause Aubertine to lose his critical Democratic seat to a Republican in the upcoming election this fall.  Although the bill does not belong in the Agriculture Committee, Sampson is giving Aubertine and his committee an opportunity to kill the bill in order to improve his chances for reelection.

Hopefully, things will be put back on track in the Senate.  If not, the farm workers and field hands who desperately need protection will continue to go unprotected in New York.

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T-Mobile is sued for going over their hours

September 22, 2009 By

By: Elizabeth Lopez

A law firm in New York has recently filed a class action lawsuit against T-Mobile USA, claiming that the cellular service giant has been underpaying their overtime. The lawsuit involves employees’ from T-Mobile nation-wide who have been employed since July 10th, 2006 to present. The allegations by retail associates and supervisors alike state that they have not been paid regular wages for all hours worked or overtime in excess of forty hours per week.

The Complaint is also asserting New York State Labor Law claims on behalf of the New York employees, as well as California Wage Law claims on behalf of the California employees who worked for T-Mobile from July 10th, 2006.

The sales representatives and supervisors claim to have been hired to work over forty hours per week and were not paid wages or overtime for all the hours they worked. The employees were all issued “T-Mobile smart devices” and were required to review and respond to any and all T-Mobile related emails and text messages at all hours, whether or not they were logged into the company’s time keeping system. They were also required to work “off the clock” during scheduled lunch breaks in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Complaint seeks an award of damages for all unpaid wages and liquidated damages.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and other laws specifically govern which employees can receive overtime pay and the minimum amounts that employers have to pay. If your employer has tried to rewrite these rules, talk to us.

At Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC, our employment law attorneys handle unpaid overtime wage disputes for clients on Long Island and throughout the New York City area, and have had significant success in these matters, our firm files claims on behalf of individual clients as well as groups, and can take unpaid overtime wage disputes on a nationwide basis as well.

For more information, contact Leeds, Morelli and Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658

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