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24 MAR

Landry’s/McCormick & Schmick’s Lawsuit Filed

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On March 24, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Landry’s, Inc. and its subsidiaries McCormick & Schmick Restaurant Corp. and Landry’s Seafood House-Arlington, Inc., on behalf of all servers, bussers, and other tipped workers who have worked at the “McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood & Steaks” that operated in New York City between March 24, 2009 and June 13, 2014.

Landry’s Inc. (“Landry’s”) is ...

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19 MAR

NY PAID FAMILY LEAVE LAW

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On March 17, 2015, the New York State Assembly took a major step forward in the protection of workers’ rights with their passage of the Paid Family Leave Insurance Act (A3870) by a margin of 84 to 43.  This new bill will provide qualified employees with up to 12 weeks of paid leave, with benefits of up to $545 per week.  The funding for the benefits will be taken from an employee payroll deduction that will initially amount to, at ...

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12 MAR

Third Circuit Issues Great Decision on the Motor Carrier Exemption

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On March 11, 2015 the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reached a precedential holding in the case of McMaster v. Eastern Armored Services, Inc., affirming the District Court’s opinion that the professional motor carrier exemption does not apply for motor carrier employees who, either in whole or in part, drive vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds.  This case was brought by an employee for an armored courier company who spent roughly 51% of her time working ...

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6 MAR

Snuggie $8 MIllion Settlement

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Allstar Marketing Group (“Allstar”), the company behind “As Seen on TV” products such as the Snuggie, Perfect Bacon Bowl, and Magic Mesh, has recently agreed to an $8 million dollar settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over their alleged illegal use of deceptive marketing and sales practices.  The Federal Trade Commission’s investigation and subsequent settlement negotiations come in response to hundreds of consumer filed complaints pertaining to the company’s practices.

Customers who were drawn in by Allstar’s buy-one-get-one-free deals, or various ...

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24 FEB

Wage Increase For Tipped Workers in New York

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Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration has announced today that the New York State sub-minimum wage rate for all tipped workers will be raised to $7.50 an hour at the end of 2015.  This is a substantial and well warranted increase from the current tipped wage rate of $5.00, and will bring the tipped wage rate much closer to the regular minimum wage rate, which will itself increase from $8.75 to $9.00 at the end of 2015.

The unprompted raise should provide a ...

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12 FEB

F&S Files Walgreens Consumer Class Action

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On February 11, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners of Walgreen Co. and Duane Reade Inc. (collectively, “Defendants”) on behalf of all consumers nationwide who have purchased the following “Finest Nutrition” brand supplements: Gingko Biloba, St. John’s Wort, Ginseng, and Echinacea.

The lawsuit alleges that Defendants, owners of the largest drug retailing chain in the United States, misbranded the aforementioned supplements ...

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10 FEB

Great Second Circuit Ruling re Class Actions

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A recent summary order issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the case of Jacob v. Duane Reade, Inc. affirmed the District Court’s holding that the lawsuit, pertaining to a class of misclassified Assistant Store Managers, meets the requirements for class certification, at least in regards to questions of liability.  The Plaintiff class consists of Assistant Store Managers at New York Duane Reade locations who believe that they have been misclassified by their employer ...

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6 FEB

Herbal Supplement Investigation

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The New York State Attorney General’s Office has recently sent out Cease and Desist Notifications to GNC, Target, Walgreens and Walmart, alleging their herbal supplements fail to contain the advertised ingredients.

Fitapelli & Schaffer is interested in filing a class action against these large companies for their false and misleading labeling.  Below is a list of affected products:

GNC
Gingko Biloba, St. Johns Wort, Ginseng, Echinacea, and Saw Palmetto
Target
Gingko Biloba, St. John’s Wort, and Valerian Root
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6 FEB

Anthem Insurance Data Breach

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Anthem Inc., the country’s second-largest health insurer, operating under numerous brands such as Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, has recently fell victim to a devastating and large scale “sophisticated external cyberattack.”  The real victims, however, are the 80 million Anthem customers who may have had crucial private information, such as names, Social Security numbers, street addresses, birthdays, addresses, email and employment information, and employment data, accessed and retrieved by ...

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5 FEB

Former State Assemblyman Vito Lopez Settles Sexual Harassment Case

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A sexual harassment claim filed on behalf of two female former Assembly employees, Victoria Burhans and Chloe Rivera, against their employer, former New York State Assemblyman Vito Lopez, has recently resulted in a tentative settlement agreement (pending approval by state officials) which will see both the state and Lopez himself paying out significant damages.  Specifically, the settlement awards Plaintiffs a total of $580,000 in damages, with $545,000 of that being paid by the state and $45,000 being paid by Lopez.  ...

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