Tag: FLSA

REPAIR TECHNICIANS FOR GENERAL ELECTRIC GRANTED CONDITIONAL CERTIFICATION IN WAGE AND HOUR SUIT

Last month, a New Jersey District Court judge granted conditional certification in a wage and hour collective action brought by appliance repair technicians employed by General Electric. Thirteen plaintiffs, who service appliances in customer’s homes, filed the lawsuit and alleged that they were required to perform work, before and after their shift, without pay.

Specifically, plaintiffs claim that they were required to perform pre-shift work, such as logging on to their computer to retrieve a list of calls for the day, checking emails, ensuring that they have the necessary parts for their service calls and contacting customers to find out if they were home.

Plaintiffs additionally claim that they worked through lunch, even though pay for a 30-minute lunch break was automatically deducted, and they performed off-the-clock work at the end of each shift, such as answering emails, ordering parts and checking calls for the next day.

The judge ruled that plaintiffs provided sufficient evidence for conditional certification and that GE had a policy, either written or unwritten, that affected service technicians similarly. Thus far, approximately 100 workers have opted-in to this action.

This firm will continue to monitor the developments in this case.

QUINN EMANUEL MOVES TO SUMMARILY DISMISS TEMPORARY ATTORNEY’S OVERTIME CASE

In March 2014, William Henig filed a putative class and collective action against law firm, Quinn Emanuel Urquhard and Sullivan LLP, and Providus New York LLC, a staffing company.  Henig is an attorney who was hired by Defendants on a temporary basis to review documents in pending litigation for a six-week term. 

Henig claims that he sorted through hundreds of documents each day under very specific guidelines set forth by Defendants. In his Complaint, Henig alleged that he, and other similarly situated individuals, worked over 40 hours per week and were denied overtime pay in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws.

Last week, Emanuel filed a motion for summary judgment which could result in a dismissal of the case.  Emanuel maintains that temporary attorneys are exempt from overtime requirements under federal and state law under the exemption for professional employees. 

  A ruling in the favor of Henig would fuel the argument that duties of temporary attorneys are too menial to fall outside the coverage of overtime pay requirements and could also have an affect on other industries employing temporary workers.

This firm will continue to monitor the developments in this case.

SECOND CIRCUIT REVERSES SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN FAVOR OF TELEPHONE CLAIMS ADJUSTERS EMPLOYED BY GEICO

In 2009, Candace Harper brought a collective action on behalf of telephone claims adjusters for  unpaid overtime against Geico Insurance Company.  The 302 adjusters that opted into this action argued that Geico improperly classified them as exempt employees under the “administrative exemption” of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Last year, the district court granted Geico’s motion for summary judgment, agreeing with Geico’s argument that the employees were insurance claims adjusters and thus exempt under the FLSA, and dismissed the case. 

The employees appealed, and last week, the Second Circuit reversed the district court’s ruling.  The Second Circuit held that there was a legitimate conflict over the nature of the adjusters’ jobs under the administrative exemption, specifically, whether the employees “performed a sufficient number of the tasks…with sufficient discretion and independent judgment…” so as to satisfy the requirements of the exemption.

  As a result, the case is now being sent to trial.

MORGAN STANLEY TO PAY $4.2 MILLION IN OVERTIME CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT

In June 2011, three client service associates in the wealth management division of Morgan Stanley filed a class action lawsuit in New York federal court on behalf of current and former client service associates.  Plaintiffs claimed that Morgan Stanley, one of the world’s largest brokerage firms, violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and New York state labor law by failing to pay overtime.

  Last week, Morgan Stanley agreed to settle the case for $4.2 million.  The three lead plaintiffs agreed to settlements of $10,000 each in addition to their individual settlement amounts and the other plaintiffs who joined shortly thereafter will receive $7,500.

Client service associates are often compensated by both the brokerage firm and the individual broker for whom they work.  They are usually classified as non-exempt employees, which entitles them to overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours per week pursuant to both federal and state law, but as here, such employees are often not paid overtime pay.

CAPITAL ONE AGREES TO SETTLE MANAGERS’ OVERTIME CASE FOR $3 MILLION

Last Friday, a New York federal judge gave preliminary approval to a $3 million settlement of a lawsuit commenced by assistant branch managers against Capital One NA for unpaid overtime.   Assistant branch managers sued the bank in March 2014 alleging that the bank violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and wage and hour laws in New York, New Jersey and Maryland by classifying them as exempt employees under state and federal law.  A hearing has been set for November 14, 2014 to make a final determination, determine the amount of attorneys’ fees and hear any objections.

It is common for companies to falsely classify managers and assistant managers as “exempt” employees under the executive exemption under both state and federal law in order to escape paying overtime.  However, a close review of the actual job duties often show, as in this case, that the “managers” are just regular workers who are entitled to overtime pay.   Employers frequently give employee fancy job titles and pay them on a salary basis to make employees mistakenly believe they are not entitled to over time pay.

LINKEDIN SETTLES OVERTIME CASE FOR $6 MILLION DOLLARS

Earlier this week, LinkedIn, a social networking site for professionals, agreed to pay approximately $6 million to 359 current and former workers in New York, California, Illinois and Nebraska.  The U.S. Department of Labor conducted an investigation and found that LinkedIn violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to record and compensate workers for all hours worked.

  LinkedIn will pay over $3.3 million in overtime owed to workers and more than $2.5 million in damages.  As a part of its settlement, LinkedIn also agreed to train all employees that “off-the-clock-work” is prohibited for non-exempt workers.

Off-the-clock work continues to be an issue faced by workers all over the country.  Employers often will have employees continue to work, for example, through lunch breaks or after they punch out, without compensation.  This is a violation of federal and state wage and hour law.

PRESIDENT OBAMA ISSUES EXECUTIVE ORDER REGARDING EXPANSION OF OVERTIME PAY

On March 13, 2014, President Obama issued an executive order requesting that the U.S. Labor Department issue regulations that mandate overtime pay to employees who otherwise would be exempt under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).  The administration hopes to qualify employees, such as fast-food managers, office workers and other employees that are currently classified as exempt white-collar employees, for overtime pay under the FLSA.  Generally, these workers are exempt from the overtime requirements of the FLSA because they are deemed to be “administrative, executive or professionals.”

The proposed changes will likely be subject to public comment before final approval by the Labor Department, and may result in modifications of the original proposal.

CONSTRUCTION COMPANY HIRED TO REBUILD SEASIDE HEIGHTS BOARDWALK FACING WAGE AND OVERTIME LAWSUIT

Jamali Developers LLC, the construction company hired to rebuild the iconic Seaside Heights boardwalk after the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, has just been served with a lawsuit.  The suit names Jamali Developers’ CEO and managers as well as another company alleged to be related to Jamali Developers.  According to their complaints filed in the Superior Court of Middlesex County, carpenters, Fredy Beza and Angel Martinez, seek a representative action for workers under the New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act on grounds that Jamali Developers allegedly failed to pay workers the mandatory wage rate.  Alternatively, Plaintiffs seek a class action suit due to Jamali Developers alleged failure to pay overtime on the reconstruction project and thereby violating the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.  The Plaintiffs state that there may be over 75 workers entitled to such pay.

This firm will continue to monitor the developments in this case.