Tag: minimum wage

WAHLBURGERS RESTAURANT CHAIN SUED FOR MINIMUM WAGE, OVERTIME AND TIP VIOLATIONS

On August 18, 2016, this law firm along with Pechman Law Group PLLC filed a wage and hour class action lawsuit involving over 100 employees in federal court against Wahlburgers restaurant chain located in Coney Island, New York.  Wahlburgers is owned by Mark, Donnie and Paul Wahlberg, celebrity actors and chef.  A&E also has a TV series which follows the brothers as they run their restaurant chain.

The lawsuit alleges that the restaurant violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law by shaving hours of compensable time from the weekly hours of employees, failing to pay its workers minimum wage and overtime, stealing tips from employees and illegally requiring servers to share their tips with non-tipped, back-of-house kitchen staff.

We will be prosecuting these claims and hope to get the employees a recovery.

NEW YORK COURT UPHOLDS FAST-FOOD WORKER MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE TO $15

Last year, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that a new minimum wage would gradually be phased in for fast-food workers who work at establishments that are part of a chain of 30 or more locations, including those operating under a franchise agreement where the franchisor owns or operates at least 30 such establishments nationally.    Effective December 31, 2015, the new minimum wage increased to $10.50 for New York City fast-food workers and is on track to increase to $15.00 by 2018.  The minimum wage order was issued by the Commissioner of Labor on May 7, 201.   The National Restaurant Association, a trade group, appealed to the Industrial Board of Appeals (IBA) asserting that the wage order was contrary to law.  The IBA confirmed the wage order, and Petitioner appealed the decision in New York state court.

Last month, the Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division upheld the decision to increase the minimum wage for fast food workers to $15.00 per hour.  The Court rejected Petitioner’s arguments that it violated the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause, that it was wrongfully delegated to a state agency and that the wage board members appointed by the Commissioner were not true representatives of employers and employees.

 

The Court noted the difficult nature of the work in the fast food industry and that workers often work irregular hours, engage in a variety of complex tasks often under extreme pressure and poor working conditions. The Appellate Division upheld the wage order and agreed with the wage board that “fast food chains have recently experienced significant increases in profits without an accompanying rise in wages for their work, implying that those profits were wrung from the necessities of their employees.”

7-ELEVEN HIT WITH OVERTIME AND RETALIATION SUIT IN NEW JERSEY

 

Three former employees of a 7-Eleven convenience store located in Princeton, New Jersey filed a proposed class action alleging that the franchise failed to pay them minimum wage and overtime pay when they worked beyond 40 hours per week and also fired them when they complained to management.  The plaintiffs seek to represent 90 potential class members of 7-11 stores, either independently owned and operated, or directly owned and controlled by the Texas-based corporation, within the same market.

Plaintiffs contend that they performed tasks such as stocking shelves, cleaning the bathroom and parking lot, serving customers and operating food preparation machines and were paid $6.00-$6.50 per hour in cash, with no overtime pay.  Two workers claim that they were retaliated against for complaining to management about their compensation and the third worker was fired after an attorney representing the two other plaintiffs notified the store of the workers’ claims.    Plaintiffs also claim that defendants failed to provide them with statements regarding their gross and net wages and an itemization of the deductions made from gross wages.

The case is Lopez et al. v. 7-Eleven Inc. et al., case number MER-L-418-16, and was filed in New Jersey state court, County of Mercer.

NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL SUES DOMINO’S PIZZA FOR WAGE THEFT

Last week, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued Domino’s Pizza Inc. and three New York franchisees for wage and hour violations.  The lawsuit alleges that that from July 2008 to the present, Domino’s franchisees did not pay its delivery drivers minimum wage and failed to adequately pay overtime, due to an in-house payroll software system that undercounted hours worked by employees.  Unlike many other lawsuits, this lawsuit is the first one filed by the Attorney General’s office to claim that the corporate franchisor is liable for the violations of its franchisees under a joint employer theory.

It accuses the company, Domino’s Pizza LLC, of requiring its franchisees to use a computer software system that it knew was flawed and claims that it was heavily involved in individual store operations.  If the state wins, it will make it harder for corporations that run franchises to avoid responsibility for the unlawful actions taken by its franchisees.

Since 2014, the New York Attorney General’s office has settled cases with many other Domino’s franchisees for wage and hour violations, including securing a $446,000 settlement for delivery workers for unpaid minimum wage and overtime, as we previously reported.  And since 2011, Schneiderman has obtained more than $26 million for nearly 20,000 workers who were shorted wages.

MINIMUM WAGE INCREASED FOR HOSPITALITY AND FAST FOOD WORKERS IN NEW YORK

As part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s initiative to get fair pay for New York workers, Governor Cuomo secured three changes that became effective on December 31, 2015.  First, New York State’s minimum wage increased from $8.75 to $9.00 per hour.  Second, the tipped cash wage amount for tipped hospitality workers, such as hotel workers, increased to $7.50 per hour.  Lastly, the minimum wage for workers in fast food chains in New York City increased to $10.50 per hour and $9.75 per hour for other fast food workers in the state.

 

These rates will increase annually until they reach $15.00 at the end of 2018 for New York City and 2021 for the rest of the state.  This change affects employees who work at fast food chains that have 30 or more locations nationally, such as Dunkin Donuts, KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Subway, Taco Bell, Chipotle and others. 

This increase applies to workers who prepare food, stock shelves, clean, work security and perform other tasks.  In addition to receiving the applicable minimum wage, these employees are also entitled to overtime pay at a rate of one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 hours per week as well as spread-of-hours pay.

Employees and employers alike should be mindful of these recent changes.

HOME HEALTH CARE WORKERS NOW ELIGIBLE FOR MINIMUM WAGE AND OVERTIME PAY

Home health care workers provide in-home care for the elderly and disabled.  These workers often work long hours under stressful conditions, and for 40 years, have been classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “companionship” exemption.  President Barack Obama has long advocated for the increase in wages as well as minimum wage and overtime protections for these home health care workers.  In recent years, the Obama administration drew up regulations to extend these protections to over two million home health care workers, but the regulations were struck down by a lower court earlier this year.

Last Friday, however, a three-judge appellate court in Washington D.C. ruled that the Labor Department has the authority to eliminate the companionship exemption, thus making home health care workers eligible for minimum wage and overtime pay.  These protections would expand to home health care workers who are employed by third-party staffing agencies.  Home health care industry officials are reportedly reviewing this decision and considering their options, including Supreme Court review.

NJ GAS STATION ATTENDANTS AWARDED $5.5 MILLION IN BACK WAGES

The U.S. Labor Department reported that over 1,100 gas station attendants in New Jersey have received $5.5 million in back wages and damages over the past five years as a result of the Labor Department’s “multiyear enforcement initiative.” The Labor Department found that attendants employed by various gas stations including Shell, Exxon, BP have been denied basic minimum wage and overtime pay, in violation of the Federal Labor Standards Act. Due to its enforcement efforts, the Labor Department also reported that the industry was positively impacted in that some gas station hired more employees to avoid overtime violations, began to track hours worked, and contacted the Labor Department for help in providing training to managers on wage and hour laws.

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires non-exempt employees to be paid at the least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and over time pay of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week. The law also requires employers to maintain accurate time-keeping records and prohibits retaliation against employees who exercise their rights under the law. Most states also have wage and hour laws.

GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES STATEWIDE EMERGENCY MEASURES TO PROTECT NAIL SALON WORKERS

Earlier this week, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that a multiagency task force will conduct investigations of nail salons and institute new rules that salons must comply with to protect manicurists from potentially dangerous chemicals found in nail products. He also stated that, “New York State has a long history of confronting wage theft and unfair labor practices head on…and with the formation of this new Enforcement Task Force, we are aggressively following in that tradition.” Governor Cuomo vowed that nail salons that did not comply with orders to pay workers back wages, or are unlicensed, would be shut down.

Governor Cuomo’s initiative follows a two-part investigation by Maslin Nir regarding the mistreatment of nail salon workers in New York. Her report was published in the New York Times last week and has commanded attention.   The comprehensive report was a result of 13 months of researching and reporting and shed light on the unfair labor practices and mistreatment of various nail salon workers. The report exposed the stories of several immigrant nail salon workers who stated that their employers required them to pay $100 to $200 as a “training fee” just to begin working at the salon, and were not paid any wages for months, that is, until their bosses deemed them fit to earn wages. In one instance, when one worker finally was paid, she stated she was paid $30 per day. Although more experienced workers are sometimes paid more, i.e., $40-$80 per day, it still is below minimum wage due to their long working hours. Workers’ tips have also been docked by owners due to minor errors, and overtime pay is basically unheard of in this industry even though workers routinely work up to 12 hour days. Unfortunately, these stories documented in Maslin’s report are commonplace to many workers in this industry.

Maslin further reported that many of these workers endure humiliation and physical abuse by owners and are constantly video-recorded as they work. The report stated that many nail salon workers are Asian and Hispanic with limited English-speaking capabilities and are in this country illegally and are reluctant to report violations or complain because they are just happy to have a job.

The full New York Times report can be found here.

NYC RESTAURANT ORDERED TO PAY $2.7 MILLION TO 11 WORKERS

Last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael H. Dolinger ordered popular Korean restaurant, Kum Gang San, to pay nearly $2.7 million in back wages and damages to 11 restaurant workers. Kum Gang San is owned by Ji Sung Yoo and is a twenty-four hour restaurant with locations in Manhattan and Queens. The court found that the restaurant exploited immigrant workers for many years and forced them to work long hours without paying them overtime pay or minimum wage and also diverted some of their tip income.

 The workers claim they were also forced to perform work for Yoo outside of the restaurant, such as picking vegetables at a farm and shoveling snow from Yoo’s driveway. The company has been found in violation of wage and hour and child labor laws in the past. In fact, the state ordered the restaurant to pay $1.95 million in damages for wages owed to 66 employees back in 2010, which still remains unpaid.

Unfortunately, wage theft is a frequent occurrence that affects the restaurant industry, particularly restaurants that employ immigrant workers. This case serves as an example of an ethnic restaurant that has been found to exploit immigrant workers.

VIACOM AGREES TO SETTLE FOR $7.2 MILLION IN INTERNSHIP LAWSUIT

Last week, media giant Viacom, Inc., agreed to pay about $7.2 million to end the class-action lawsuit filed by a former MTV intern, who alleged that the Company failed to pay minimum wage. The deal encompasses interns who worked at the Company’s New York and California offices at certain time periods. The average settlement payment to each claimant will be approximately $505 for each academic semester in which they were an intern at Viacom, with a cap at $1,010.

Although the Company agreed to pay $7.2 million, it still must be approved by the court. As such, U.S. Magistrate Gabriel W. Gorenstein asked for more financial details of the proposed settlement before he could approve. If approved, this will be the highest settlement amount awarded to interns to resolve labor claims.

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