Articles Tagged with flsa

“Knowledgeable,” “experienced,” an attorney who represented his client “zealously”; these are just some of the comments from United States Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman in describing the “caliber” of Long Island employment lawyer Matthew Weinick’s work at a recent settlement conference held before the judge.  On January 30, 2018, Judge Pitman issued an order approving the settlement for an unpaid wage case being defended by F&W.  The details are discussed below.

Long Island employment lawyers Famighetti & Weinick PLLC often represent workers who are not paid proper overtime or minimum wage.  But, we also defend employers in unpaid wage cases.

In this case, F&W represented a private school which provides instruction for nurses aides.  A former employee alleged, among other things, that the school did not pay her overtime for hours for worked above 40 in a week and that the school did not pay her at all for other hours worked.  At a conference before the presiding District Court Judge, Long Island employment lawyer Matthew Weinick presented a strong defense to the claims based on a recent case decided the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, New York’s federal appellate court.  The judge suggested that instead of spending time and money on a motion which may dismiss the case, the parties should meet with the magistrate judge to see if the case could be settled.

Long Island is prone to Nor’Easters and other significant snow and weather events.  A popular question is whether employers must pay their employees when the business closes due to snow or other inclement weather.  Today’s Long Island employment law blog discusses pay issues related to weather emergencies.

Pay Laws in New York

In New York, employees are covered primarily by two laws which concern how employers pay employees.  The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law which sets requirements for minimum wage and overtime. The New York Labor Law (NYLL) is New York’s counterpart to the FLSA and similarly sets a minimum wage in New York, overtime rules, and other pay related rules such as frequency of payments.

In October 2015, Long Island employment lawyers, Famighetti & Weinick, PLLC, filed a lawsuit alleging that a Long Island gas station did not pay their client overtime for the 35 hours per week that he worked overtime.  The firm also alleged that the gas station did not provide the client proper notice about his wages or proper wage statements when he was paid.  On August 30, 2017, United States Magistrate Judge Anne Y. Shields recommended to District Judge Spatt, that he order the gas station to pay $30,380 in damages, and $12,370 to F&W, for their work on the case.

Judge Recommends Answer Be Stricken and Default Entered

In the gas station case, F&W filed a lawsuit to which the defendants appeared in and submitted a response, called an answer.  However, in the course of the lawsuit, the defendants or their lawyer failed to obey court orders, failed to respond to motions, and failed to participate in the discovery process.  Further, after F&W filed an “amended complaint,” which sought to add a defendant, the defendants failed to respond to the amended complaint by submitting an answer.  Magistrate Judge Shields recommended that the defendants’ existing answer be stricken and that a default judgment be entered against all the defendants because of their exhibited “willful” failure to defend themselves in the lawsuit.

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