New York Employment Attorney Blog

Several New York City and area car washes, together with their corporate president, have agreed to pay 1,187 current and former employees a total of $3.4 million, reflecting back pay and liquidated damages in order to resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Continue reading "New York Area Car Washes Agree to Pay Employees $3.4 Million for Wage Violations" »

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Posted In: Compensation, Wages and Overtime

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In Ricci v. DeStefano, (No. 07-1428), a long awaited decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the City of New Haven violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it discarded the results of civil service examiinations in which African American and Latino firefighters seeking promotion to lieutenant and captain did not fare well. White firefighters had alleged that they had suffered race discrimination when the City discarded their favorable examination results.

Continue reading "U.S. Supreme Court Issues Ruling in "Reverse" Discrimination Case" »

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Posted In: Employment Discrimination , Racial Discrimination

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The media reported yesterday that the attorneys general for eight states informed FedEx Ground that it had formed a group to examine the company's classification of its drivers as "independent contractors," as opposed to "employees." The decision by the attorneys general is significant because FedEx Ground is currently defending multiple class action lawsuits filed by drivers across the country concerning the alleged misclassification of drivers as independent contractors. In fact, Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. represents a class composed of drivers working for FedEx Ground in New York State.

Continue reading "FedEx Ground Investigated by 8 State Attorneys General on Independent Contractor Status of Drivers" »

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Posted In: Compensation, Wages and Overtime , Employment Agreements , Employment Rights

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An assistant marketing manager has sued Steiff, a maker of teddy bears and stuffed animals, and its CEO, claiming that she was sexually harassed by the company's CEO, which culminated, according to the employee, in a rape. The case was filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Continue reading "$80 Million Sexual Harassment Suit Filed Against New York Teddy Bear Maker" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Employment Discrimination , Sexual Harassment

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The Associated Press reported today that New York's Hawaiian Tropic Zone restaurant sought to dismiss a race discrimination lawsuit filed by Melody Morales of Brooklyn, New York. Ms. Morales claims that when she tried to get a job as a bikini-clad barmaid, she was told that she did not speak "white" and her language was too "ghetto."

Continue reading "New York Hawaiian Tropic Zone Seeks Dismissal of Discrimination Suit" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: National Origin Discrimination , Racial Discrimination

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A sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") against Duane Reade Inc., was recently settled for $240,000 and other relief. The lawsuit had alleged that Duane Reade, which operates over 200 drugstores in New York, had unlawfully created and failed to correct a sexually hostile work environment at one of its stores located in Bronx, New York.

Continue reading "New York Drugstore Chain Settles Sexual Harrassment and Retaliation Lawsuit" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Employment Discrimination , Retaliation , Sexual Discrimination , Sexual Harassment

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Earlier this week, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in AT&T Corp. v. Hulteen, holding that an employer did not violate the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) through a seniority system for pension and other employee benefits that credited an employee with service while out on disability leave, but only provided partial credits to employees who had taken pregnancy leave.

Continue reading "Supreme Court Finds No Pregnancy or Sex Discrimination Based upon Employer's Prior Pension Credit Policy" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Pregnancy Discrimination , Sexual Discrimination

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Last week, a lawsuit was filed in New York State Supreme Court alleging sexual harassment against Southern Hospitality, a New York City restaurant, and its owners, one of whom is Justin Timberlake. The lawsuit was brought by Alison McDaniel, a former restaurant manager, who accuses two of Timberlake's owners of discriminatory conduct.

Continue reading "Celebrity Owned New York Restaurant Sued for Sexual Harassment" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Employment Discrimination , Sexual Discrimination , Sexual Harassment

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New York state and federal courts have long disagreed over the application of the New York State and New York City anti-discrimination laws to out of state employees, who claimed employment discrimination by New York based employers. In an attempt to set limits on the geographic scope of the New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law, courts seemed to embrace the concept that the location of where the discriminatory decision was made was not relevant, but rather where the impact of the discriminatory decision was felt.

Continue reading "Court Recognizes Broad Geographic Reach of New York State and City Human Rights Laws" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Employment Discrimination

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Employers are requiring with greater frequency that employees accept mandatory arbitration as a condition of employment. In difficult economic times, employees are less likely to reject a job conditioned upon accepting mandatory arbitration. Indeed, employees often agree to waive their rights to go to court over future employment disputes in exchange for at-will employment. Although arbitrations are not inherently inappropriate for resolving employment disputes, an employee's acceptance of mandatory arbitration is rarely, if ever, voluntary.

Continue reading "Outlawing Mandatory Pre-Dispute Arbitration Agreements" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution

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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 results in, among other things, substantial amendments to the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act ("COBRA"). Among other things, the ARRA provides that "assistance eligible individuals" ("AEI") are only required to pay 35% of the health insurance premium charged under a plan. Employers are responsible for paying the remaining 65%. However, the employer ultimately receives reimbursement from the government in the form of a credit against income tax withholding amounts and FICA taxes.

Continue reading "COBRA Subsidies Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Compensation, Wages and Overtime , Employee Benefits

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The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that a union could contract away a union member's rights to pursue a statutory discrimination claim in court. In 14 Penn Plaza L.L.C. v. Pyett, the Supreme Court considered whether a union member with an age discrimination claim under the Age Discrimination Employment Act ("ADEA") could be required to privately arbitrate the claim rather then pursue it in court. Surprisingly, a divided Supreme Court concluded that a union member could be mandated by a collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") to arbitrate a statutory discrimination claim.

Continue reading "U.S. Supreme Court Accepts Mandatory Arbitration of Discrimination Claims for Unionized Employees " »

Posted by Gangemi Law Firm, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Age Discrimination , Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution , Employment Agreements , Employment Discrimination , Employment Rights

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