An 'over-the-road bus' "means a bus characterized by an elevated passenger deck located over a baggage compartment."
]]>Each of these statutes contain provisions prohibiting an employer from retaliating against an employee for asserting rights covered by each of the statutes.
Fact Sheet #77A, Prohibiting Retaliation Under the FLSA, provides general information concerning the FLSA’s prohibition of retaliating against any employee who has filed a complaint or cooperated in an investigation and is available on the WHD website at http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs77a.htm.
Fact Sheet #77B, Protection for Individuals under the FMLA, provides general information concerning the Family and Medical Leave Act’s (FMLA) prohibition of retaliating against an individual for exercising his or her rights or participating in matters protected under the FMLA and is available on the WHD website at http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs77b.htm.
Fact Sheet #77C, Prohibiting Retaliation Under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA), provides general information concerning MSPA’s prohibition of discrimination against a migrant or seasonal agricultural worker who has filed a complaint or participated in any proceeding under or related to MSPA and is available on the WHD website at http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs77c.htm
]]>The proposed CPU Act comes in response to the evolution of computer technology, and seeks to take into account changes in the use of computers. For example, the CPU Act seeks to incorporate "information technology" jobs, and would refer to work relating to the internet, intranets, and networks, among other things.
If passed, the CPU Act would result in fewer computer employees being entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
]]>The plaintiffs worked for two months for the developers and ultimately were not given the jobs that they were promised.
]]> Incredibly, the developer's chief operating officer stated at a press conference that the agreement provided that the plaintiffs would work for free and that there was no guarantee of pay or union membership. According to the chief operating officer, "[t]hey knew it was an unpaid internship."This situation highlights the problem with many so-called "internship" programs that are really operations which seek unpaid labor to perform real work. If, in fact, the individuals were not promised any benefits for working on the project, then what did they get in exchange for their hard work? Calling work an internship does not shield employers from having to pay workers for the work that they perform. The U.S. Department of Labor and New York State Department of Labor scrutinizes internships carefully to ensure that they satisfy the requirements of a legitimate internship. We previously wrote about these requirements in a prior blog dealing with unpaid internships.
Individuals must be paid for their work at the minimum wage, and are entitled to overtime pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a given workweek, under New York law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
]]>The Eastern District of New York jury found in her favor after a four day trial, which concluded on October 6, 2011.
]]>Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a rigorous multi-phased process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews by practice area.
The Super Lawyers lists are published nationwide in Super Lawyers magazines and in leading city and regional magazines across the country. Super Lawyers magazines also feature editorial profiles of attorneys who embody excellence in the practice of law. For information about Super Lawyers, go to superlawyers.com.
The first Super Lawyers list was published in 1991 and by 2009 the rating service had expanded nationwide. In February 2010 Super Lawyers was acquired by Thomson Reuters the world's leading source of intelligent information for business and professionals.
]]>We wrote about the issue of misclassification of workers as unpaid interns in our May 25, 2010 blog, Department of Labor Issues Guidelines on Unpaid Internships. To be valid, an internship must provide an educational experience, and not just amount to an unpaid job. In recent years, both the United States Department of Labor and New York State Department of Labor have scrutinized internships to make sure that they are legitimate.
Both federal and New York law require that employees be paid the minimum wage for hours worked, as well as overtime for hours worked in excess of 40 in a given workweek. Thus, if the court rules that the interns, who worked at Fox Searchlight Pictures, were really employees, the movie studio will be liable for failure to pay minimum wage and overtime pay.
]]>A critical issue in the case is whether the dancers were properly classified as independent contractors. The dancers allege that they were actually "employees" based upon the club's exercise of control over their work. If the court finds that the dancers were, in fact, common law employees, then the New York Labor Law and Fair Labor Standards Act will apply to the dancers, and could result in liability for unpaid wages.
]]>Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 41,000 leading attorneys cast almost 3.9 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”
]]>The company maintained a telecommuting program for its employees. When the employee, Jane Harris, attempted to avail herself of the program as a result of her gastro-intestinal condition, the company refused her request. Thereafter, the company began criticizing her performance, placed her on a performance plan, and fired her after she complained that the company had failed to accommodate her medical condition.
]]> Under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), an employer must provide a reasonable accommodation to its disabled employee if such would permit the otherwise disabled employee to perform the essential functions of the job. In this case, if the EEOC can show that the telecommuting program existed, which would indicate that it would not be unreasonable for a disabled employee to utilize it, then the company could face liability for refusing the employee's request.In addition to the federal ADA, many states have statutes that cover disability discrimination. Both New York State and New York City have statutes that prohibit disability discrimination in employment. In many instances, the laws of New York State and New York City are broader in their coverage and extend protection to conditions that might not otherwise qualify as a disability under the ADA.
]]>Judge Preska rejected EEOC's reliance on anecdotal evidence of discrimination as the basis for a claim that Bloomberg L.P. had engaged in a "pattern or practice" of pregnancy discrimination.
Although the EEOC lost on its class-based claims, it is still able to proceed with individual claims of discrimination on behalf of the claimants. Nevertheless, the Court's rejection of the "pattern or practice" claim will make it extremely difficult for the EEOC to prove that each of the claimants suffered individual instances of discrimination.
The Court's decision prompted concerned remarks from the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women, and the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Bloomberg, L.P. was founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.