Banana Republic , LLC in New York State has just been sued for employee pay violations. Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed the class action complaint on Thursday, November 4, 2021, alleging that the clothing retail chain failed to pay its hourly manual workers on time. With several locations in New York, this lawsuit could potentially affect many similarly situated non-exempt hourly positions such as sales representatives who work or have worked for Banana Republic in New York State sinceNovember 4, 2015. This lawsuit seeks to recover untimely wage compensation and other damages for these similarly situated hourly workers.
The lawsuit claims that Banana Republic Paid their sales representatives in New York State on an untimely basis, in violation of the requirements of the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). The clothing retail chain has allegedly failed to properly provide them timely pay under the NYLL because these hourly workers spent over twenty-five percent of their time completing physical tasks which puts them over the manual labor threshold required to receive a weekly paycheck. These physical duties included, but were not limited to: (1) opening, moving, stacking and lifting boxes; (2) stocking shelves and clothing racks; (3) cleaning and organizing fitting rooms; (4) cleaning bathrooms; (5) folding clothes; (6) price tagging clothes and; (7) sweeping the store; (8) cleaning store windows; and (9) standing for long periods of time. Due to the extensive nature of physical tasks completed by these employees, the lawsuit alleges they should have been paid weekly instead of bi-weekly.
It is unfortunately all too common that some of the hardest working personnel don’t even get paid on time. Industries like retail and construction often have these violations. Luckily, New York State has laws that ensure that those workers with labor intensive duties get paid weekly and don’t have to wait too long between their hard-earned paychecks. If you currently work or have worked for Banana Republic in New York State and would like to learn more about your rights with regard to this lawsuit and timely pay, feel free to contact our firm, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, for a free consultation at (212) 300-0375 or visit our website for additional information.
You can also view the filed complaint here.