Philadelphia McDonald’s has agreed to pay $90,000 to settle a federal discrimination lawsuit on behalf of a worker with an intellectual disability.  Timothy Artis, a lot and lobby worker at the McDonald’s, despite having successfully performed his job duties, was constantly harassed by his supervisors, other managers, and co-workers who repeatedly called him offensive and degrading names because of his disability. The harassment included physical shoving and threats, including one occasion when a co-worker threatened Artis with a box cutter.  Full story:  EEOC website

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), provides broad nondiscrimination protection for individuals with disabilities in employment public services, public accommodations and services operated by private entities, transportation, and telecommunication.  An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered.  ADA’s Guide to Disability Rights Law

The attorneys at Leeds Morelli & Brown, P.C., dedicate a large amount of their practice to employment discrimination claims.  For any questions, contact an attorney at the Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C. law firm for a free consultation at 1-800-585-4658. Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C.’s website is located at www.lmblaw.com.

White House correspondent Helen Thomas is retiring in the wake of comments she made at a recent celebration of the Jewish Heritage at the White House.  When asked her opinion on Israel, the 89-year old Hearst columnist said, “Tell them to get the hell out Palestine.”  When asked where they should go, Thomas said they should “go home” to “Poland, Germany, and America, and everywhere else.”  Thomas has served as a White House correspondent for 57 years, having joined during the later years of the Eisenhower administration, coming to the forefront with John F. Kennedy, and serving until the second year of the Obama administration.  Known for pushing the envelope, Thomas never hesitated from asking the tough, impolite, and even downright offensive questions that reporters should ask. CNN Article

Thomas’ comments were quickly denounced both by the White House Correspondents Association and the White House itself. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called them “offensive and reprehensible.” Thomas herself said in an apology that they don’t reflect her “heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance.” MSNBC Article.  There is no denying that there continues to be a tendency to discriminate against certain groups of people in the workplace.  Discriminating against an individual based on race or national origin may be prosecuted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Please visit the EEOC’s website for further information: www.eeoc.gov/policy/vii.html.

The attorneys at Leeds Morelli & Brown, P.C., dedicate a large amount of their practice to employment discrimination claims.  For any questions, contact an attorney at the Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C. law firm for a free consultation at 1-800-585-4658. Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C.’s website is located at www.lmblaw.com.

Station Casinos reached a settlement in a suit filed on behalf of thousands of current and former employees who claimed they were shortchanged in their pay by the gaming company.  The suit was filed about one week before the company’s bankruptcy petition, which is facing $6 billion in claims.  The workers alleges that if an employee checks in early for a shift, he or she is not credited with the time, and the same holds true of the worker who leaves later.  The Casino company has agreed to set $1.1 million aside to pay the employees for 180 days prior to filing for bankruptcy.  In addition, the parties agreed to value the remaining unsecured claim in the lawsuit at $5 million covering workers dating to 2005.  Article

A “rounding” pay system operates in a way that by enabling the computer system to clock time so that if an hourly worker arrived up to 14 minutes before the quarter hour, the computer automatically rounded that time forward to the nearest quarter hour. Same if the worker checked out past his or her appointed time, the time is rounded back to the nearest quarter.  Although this issue never reached a trier of fact in the Nevada District Court where the suit was filed, the case may serve as an example of the danger of using such a pay system.  For example, if a worker clocked in 14 minutes early and out of shift 14 minutes late, and that employee worked a minimum wage ($7.25) job 5 days a week, the worker would stand to lose over $16 a week, amounting to $832 a year.  A large corporation that employs over 500 hourly employees stands to gain a significant amount of money in a given year by using this type of pay system.

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 you can contact an attorney at Leeds, Morelli & Brown, P.C. for a free consultation at 1-888-585-4658 or our firm’s website at www.lmblaw.com.

A trial began last week in a Japanese courtroom, where a 36-year-old Japanese woman alleges she was fired from Prada Japan because she was not attractive enough.  Plaintiff Rina Bovrisse’s legal complaint against Prada Japan states Prada Japan’s CEO asked her to get rid of shop managers and assistant managers who called her “aged, ugly, fat, bad body shape, bad teeth, disgusting, and not cute.”   After she refused to do so, Prada Japan’s human resources manager gave most of those managers transfer orders that amounted to demotions.  Bovrisse’s lawyers said Prada offered Bovrisse around $107,000 in severance but she turned it down to fight for a public and pay compensation for emotional distress.  Article

New York is an “at will” employee State, meaning an employer can keep its employees for however long he wants but may fire them for any reason or for no reason at all, so long as it is not an unlawful or discriminatory reason.  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.  So, can a New York employer fire a woman for being too ugly?  Technically yes, because ugly is not protected under Title VII.  However, it is best to consult with an experienced employment attorney to ensure there is no basis for a discrimination claim.

Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC is a nationally recognized leader in the area of 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.

En Marzo de 2010, los defensores de inmigrantes y los pobres comenzó a buscar una grieta abajo en robo de sueldos. Se estima por “Proyecto de Ley de Empleo Nacional” que más que 317,000 trabajadores en Nueva York son estafados con su pagos, aproximadamente 18.4 milliones de dolares por semana, que hace un promedio de $3.016 por persona, por año en salario minimo, horas extras y otros violaciones de salarios.

Además de privando los trabajadores de salarios minimos, los empresarios también privar la ciudad y estado de ingresios fiscales al no retenendo los ingresios fiscales, no pagando ingresios de seguro de desempleo, o los premios de compensación de los trabajadores. Esto crea una situació desventeja por los empresarios que cumplir con la ley.

Una coalición de los sindicatos, grupos que abogar por los inmigrantes y organizaciones sin fines de lucro han anunciado su apoyo por legislación propuesto en el Senado del Estado y la Asamblea del Estado llamado “El Prevención de Robo de Salarios y La Ley de Protección de los Empleadores Responsables” en Albany, ha patrocinado por Senador Diana Savino por Staten Island y Asambleísta Carl Heastie por los Bronx, que tiene la intención de endurecer las sanciones a los empresarios que no siguen los leyes de salario mínimo (por ejemplo informe de datos precisos y comprobantes de pago) y trucos los trabajadores de su pago para horas extras. Como penalización, los empresarios necesitarán pagar los salarios atrasados, con interés, y habrá multas de hasta doble esa cantidad. Por ejemplo, los empresarios podrián ser multados hasta $10.000 para la cocción represalia de un trabajador que habla contra las violaciónes o presenta un reclamo de salarios. Los peores infractores podrán ser acusados de un delito y posible prisión. Además, porque muchos empresarios restraso en cuplimiento por los sentencias de pago retroactive, la legislación pendiente aumentaría los sanciones por 30% contra los empresarios que no pagan los sentencias de pago dentro de 90 días . Para formentar los trabajadores vacilantes hacer un clamo, ese legislación también permite grupos terceros presentar quejas en su nombre. Cobertura por “Daily News” y “New York Times.”

La Ley de Normas Razonables de Trabajo contiene las normas federales por salarios mínimos, pago para horas extras, mantenimiento de registros y trabajo de niños. Cada empresario detrás de la ley necesita mantener ciertos registros para cada trabajador. La mayor parte de estos datos es el tipo que los empresarios mantenen en la práctica normal de la empresa. La ley no tiene requisitos de información specíficos, sin embargo, archivos necesitan estar abierto para inspection por representantes del División de Salarios y Horas, quién pueden solicitar el empresario por extensions, computaciones transcripciones. Los archivos se deben mantener al lugar de destino (o en una oficina central de archivos). También, el empresario necesita mantener archivos de información como el nombre, dirección, fecha de nacimiento (si menor de 19), género y ocupación, tiempo y día del trabajo de la semana por el trabajador, horas cada día y horas totales por la semana, la base para el pago (por ejemplo $9/hora o $440/semana) y más. Los empresarios están obligandos a preserver los registros de nómina, compra y de negociación por lo menos 3 años. Los registros de computaciones de salarios deben mantenerse para 2 años (incluyendo tarjetas de tiempo, horarios etc.). Para obtener una lista completa, debe consultar el “Wage and Hour Division Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements Under the FLSA.”

Los abogados de Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC tienen experiencia en manejo los reclamaciones de salarios. Su oficina se centra en las controversias de muchos asunots de empleo, incluso los violaciones de calculus de horas extras.  in handling wage and hour claims. Los abogados de Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC han representado los empleados en reclamaciónes desde de Long Island y el area metropolitano de la Ciudad de Nueva York. Para una consulta, contaca Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC, 1-800-585-4658.

A class action lawsuit was filed late March, 2010, for unpaid overtime wages on behalf of cable installation technicians that worked for Wave Comm, GR, LLC.  The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York.  In the Complaint, the employees assert that Wave Comm violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Laws by denying overtime pay for working more than forty hours in a week.  The technicians were paid a fixed amount of money for different types of installation-related tasks, but did not receive overtime compensation for the numerous weeks in which they worked overtime hours.  Marketwire Article

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, please feel free 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.

President Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court has triggered much media scrutiny.  One of the things in her record that is being given a great deal of attention is a widely circulated 2003 memo, that Kagan drafted while serving as the Dean of Harvard Law School.  The memo condemned the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gay soldiers as “a moral injustice of the first order.”  Essentially, the military’s policy effectively permits deeply closeted gays and bisexuals to serve in the military as long as they do not “out” themselves and they are not “outed” by others.  Kagan’s remarks were made during the 2005 controversy over whether Congress could withhold federal funding from universities that discriminate against the military.  Kagan joined a friend-of-the-court brief opposing the government.  Now, her comments are drawing a great deal of attention as the Military’s policy is under fire and the issue of gay marriage seems to be coming to head.  CNS News 

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is the only law in this country that authorizes the firing of an American simply for coming out as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.  The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) does not enforce the protections that prohibit discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation.  To date, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 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 further information: www.eeoc.gov/policy/vii.html.

The attorneys at Leeds Morelli & Brown, P.C., dedicate a large amount of their practice to employment discrimination claims.  For any questions, contact an attorney at the Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C. law firm for a free consultation at 1-800-585-4658. Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C.’s website is located at www.lmblaw.com.

Republican Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into Arizona law a statute which gives the local police to the right to verify immigration status if there is a “reasonable suspicion” that a person is in the country illegally. Brewer stated Arizona was forced to pass the law because the federal government has failed to act on it the state’s high influx of illegal immigrants.  Civil rights groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, say the law will equate to racial profiling which unfairly targets Hispanics who are in the country legally or were born in Arizona.  President Obama has ordered a review by the Justice Department to determine whether the Arizona law is Constitutional before the law goes into effect in July.  The Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund is a civil rights group which claims that the law infringes on federal responsibility and violates the 14th Amendment’s equal-protection clause.  Other states such as Arizona, Ohio, Utah, Delaware, Missouri, and Texas are planning to sign similar laws.

See: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-05-02-immigration_N.htm

According to the United States Department of Labor, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in hiring, promotion, discharge, pay, fringe benefits, job training, classification, referral, and other aspects of employment, on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. This law is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  In addition, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. This law is enforced by the Civil Rights Center.

See: http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/discrimination/ethnicdisc.htm

As well established equal opportunity and anti-discrimination firms in New York, Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C. works to achieve successful judgments that are in the best interests of their clients.  If you or someone you know has been affected by employment discrimination or seeking a class action 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.

Eleven workers are still missing after an oil rig, named the Deepwater Horizon, exploded, caught fire, and sank 36 hours later off the coast of Louisiana.  Coast Guard crews searched for the workers over a 1,940-square-mile search area by air twelve times and by boat five times.  Seventeen workers have been brought to shore, suffering from burns, broken legs and smoke inhalation, while four of them were critically injured.  About 100 others who were not hurt had made it to a supply boat after the explosion. The 400-by-250-foot rig (about twice the size of a football field) is owned by Transocean Ltd. and was under contract to BP.  A lawsuit was filed shortly after the blast, claiming the companies were negligent. Since 2001, there have been 69 offshore deaths, 1,349 injuries and 858 fires and explosions in the Gulf, according to the federal Minerals Management Service. On average, offshore oil workers earn between $40,000 to $60,000 a year.  Joe Hurt, regional vice president for the International Association of Drilling Contractors has stated that, “Working on offshore oil rigs is a dangerous job, but has become safer in recent years thanks to improved training, safety systems and maintenance”. See: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36683314

Tragedies such as the one occurring off the coast of Louisiana are unexpected but the security of your loved ones and the property you own can be protected by a Last Will and Testament.  According to New York Surrogate’s Courts, a valid will can transfer an interest in both personal property (e.g. bank accounts, furniture, stocks, and clothing) and real property (such as real estate).  A will also allows a person to name an individual to serve as an executor of the estate and guardian over the children.  Moreover, a will can provide protection for family members (for example, trusts for adult incompetent children).
See: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/surrogates/faqs.shtml#q3

Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC lawyers have extensive experience handling probate and estate matters.  Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC guardianship, surrogate, testate and intestate representation extends to clients throughout Long Island, the New York Metropolitan area. For more information or a free consultation, contact Leeds, Morelli & Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658.

On Monday, April 26, 2010, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco affirmed a federal judge’s decision to award class action status to potentially one million women or more in a bias lawsuit against Wal-Mart.  The class action status will aggregate many claimants with similar experiences into one action as opposed to presenting each lawsuit individually, thus allowing individuals with relatively small sums at state to participate in the lawsuit.  The initial suit was filed in June 2001 by six former and current female hourly workers and managers who accused Wal-Mart of systematically denying women workers equal pay and opportunities for promotion.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.  Sex discrimination involves treating someone (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of that person’s sex.  The law forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.  Please visit the EEOC’s website for further information: www.eeoc.gov/policy/vii.html.

Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC is a nationally recognized leader in the area of 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.