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.