WSNYC Blog: The Latest in Employment Law

Natavia Lowery already had a record of identity theft and embezzlement when she stole $30,000 from her boss Linda Stein and clubbed her to death with a piece of exercise equipment. There were no warning signs of her criminal record or personal history before she was hired by Douglas Elliman, Stein’s real estate company. Lowery was previously accused of stealing $3,000 while working at a Virginia church and had several arrest warrants. She was eventually convicted of second-degree

With transportation start-up Uber enjoying a valuation increase from $18 billion to over $41 billion in a matter of months—jumping as much as $15 billion in a single week—the “digital middleman” labor model is on the rise. Like many recently successful start-ups, the company operates by providing a platform for independent contractors in place of hiring employees, a system that appeals to people seeking to earn money outside of traditional long-term, hourly employment. However, recent class-action suits have proven that

In late 2013, the Obama administration announced the imminent extension of minimum wage and overtime pay protections to the nearly two million Americans who provide home care, including health care, to the elderly and disabled. The new regulation is in effect as of January 1, 2015.

As a result of changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act, the nation’s primary wage and hour law, workers who provide home care services—including certified nursing assistants, home health care aides, personal care aides, home

In late 2014, a three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) concluded that Triple Play Sports Bar and Grille had violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it fired two employees over comments made on Facebook disparaging the restaurant’s owner, deeming the event an instance of wrongful termination.

The case began in January 2011 when waitress Jillian Sanzone discovered that she, along with several other coworkers, mistakenly owed state taxes on her wages. Shortly after the incident, a

The Law Office of Christopher Q. Davis is serving as co-lead class counsel on behalf of all Administrative Managers employed with the City of New York and affiliated with Local 1180 of the Communications Workers of America in a highly publicized discrimination lawsuit. In April, the EEOC made a probable cause determination that the City engaged in a broad pattern of discrimination, paying minorities and women substantially less than their white male counterparts. After completing its investigation, the federal commission recommended

In a recent New York Times article, opinion writer and University of Nevada instructor Brittany Bronson shared her personal experiences with sexual harassment in the restaurant industry, which is rampant among tip-earning service workers such as waiters, bartenders, expeditors, busboys, and hosts. Her personal story corroborates a report published last fall which found that workers earning the tipped minimum wage were twice as likely to experience sexual harassment in the workplace than those making standard minimum wage. According to the

Living wage legislation is proven to reduce poverty, and New York City Mayor de Blasio is taking a step toward fulfilling his campaign promise to reduce income inequality. A living wage is the minimum income required to meet basic needs like housing, clothing, and nutrition without additional aid. A living wage is different from minimum wage, which is set somewhat arbitrarily. The minimum wage is often not high enough to meet basic needs and leaves many in dire need of additional

An overwhelmingly large percentage of workers eligible for overtime pay are intentionally denied earned overtime wages by unscrupulous employers who are rarely punished and steal with impunity. This was the conclusion reached by the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington D.C.-based research and policy institute, and published in a report this past fall.

To place this in perspective, as the report further notes, all wage theft, including the intentional non-payment of minimum wage and overtime pay, resulted in approximately $50 billion in

Peggy Young regularly lifted boxes weighing up to 70 pounds as a delivery truck driver for the UPS. When she became pregnant in 2006, she requested a few months of lightened loads to accommodate her pregnancy. Other UPS workers injured on the job or otherwise considered disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) were eligible under the collective-bargaining agreement for “light duty” work. But Young’s request was denied because she was not technically injured or disabled, so she was

The Law Office of Christopher Q. Davis filed a complaint against Wells Fargo Advisors in the Eastern District of New York in October on behalf of Financial Advisors in WFA’s Private Client Group for unpaid overtime wages, minimum wages, unlawful promissory-note compensation, and other practices which unlawfully reduced their compensation. This lawsuit has received press attention, and other legal commentators have noted the strength of class claims.

Ms. Hartley also separately filed a discrimination lawsuit stemming from intense harassment she received