Tag: New York Labor Law

BED BATH & BEYOND HIT WITH OVERTIME CLASS ACTION SUIT IN NEW YORK

Last month, a class action lawsuit was filed in New York federal court against Bed Bath & Beyond by department managers and assistant managers who claim that the Company failed to pay them overtime compensation pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law.

Plaintiffs claimed that although their title was that of a manager, they performed routine work of store employees, including, stocking shelves, dusting, cleaning bathrooms, organizing sales floor, building fixtures, preparing orders for pickup and performing cashier duties. 

The Company paid department managers pursuant to a fluctuating work week model which entitles employees to an overtime premium of 50 percent, instead of the regular 150 percent overtime premium (time-and-a-half), for hours worked in excess of 40 per week.  In order to use this method, however, certain pre-requisites must be met, that is, 1) the employee’s hours must fluctuate from week to week, 2) the employee must receive a fixed weekly salary which remains the same regardless of how many hours are worked per week, 2) the employee’s regular rate is at least minimum wage, and 4) the employer and employee have a clear mutual understanding that the employee will be paid a fixed weekly salary regardless of the amount of hours worked.

Here, the department managers claimed that the Company was not entitled to use the fluctuating work week model because the conditions to use that method, such as the fluctuation of employees’ work hours, were not met.   In this regard, the department managers alleged that they their weekly work hours did not fluctuate in that their number of scheduled work hours and overtime hours were consistent from week to week.

Further, the assistant store managers in the lawsuit allege that they were misclassified as exempt employees and were unlawfully denied overtime pay.

An answer to Plaintiffs’ Complaint is expected in the upcoming weeks.

BLOOMBERG L.P. TO PAY $3.2 MILLION TO CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES TO SETTLE OVERTIME SUIT

In 2013, former-Bloomberg L.P. employee, Shavez Jackson, commenced a class action suit against the Company for unpaid overtime pursuant to state and federal laws.  Jackson worked as Global Customer Service Support Representative at a call center located in New York City.  Her primary responsibilities were to answer phone calls and determine where to route the calls within the Company.  In her Complaint, she alleged that her and other call center customer service employees worked before and after their scheduled eight-hour shifts and also worked from home or through their lunch period, without being paid overtime compensation for hours worked in excess of 40 in each workweek.   Bloomberg originally classified these employees as exempt; however, on April 28, 2013, the Company reclassified them as non-exempt pursuant to an agreement entered into by the Company and the United States Department of Labor.

One month ago, Plaintiffs sought preliminary approval of a class settlement in which Bloomberg agreed to settle the case for $3.2 million for 519 plaintiffs.  On April 5, 2016, the Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion.  A final fairness hearing is scheduled for July 13, 2016.