On March 27, 2015, in the case of Scott v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted and denied in part Plaintiffs’ motion to compel production of particular documents in Defendant’s revised privilege log. The motion was filed on February 24, 2015 by Fitapelli & Schaffer LLP and Outten Golden, LLP on behalf of Plaintiffs, in response to Defendant’s privilege log, provided in discovery, which ...
Continue Reading →27 MAR
On March 27, 2015, in the case of Flood v. Carlson Restaurants Inc., Judge Analisa Torres of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Defendants motion to transfer the action to the Northern District of Texas and to partially dismiss Plaintiffs’ FLSA minimum wage claim. Plaintiffs originally commenced this action on April 17, 2014, on behalf of themselves and all similarly situated current and former tipped workers – including servers, bussers, runners, bartenders, barbacks, ...
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On March 26, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Dinosaur Restaurants, LLC, JLN-Store, Inc. f/k/a Dino-Store, Inc., Soros Strategic Partners LP, and John Stage, who collectively own and operated the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que franchise. This lawsuit is specifically filed on behalf of all servers, bussers, runners, bartenders, and other “Tipped Workers” who work or have worked at the following Dinosaur Bar-B-Que restaurants: the ...
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In a recent 6-3 decision, in the case of Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., the Supreme Court has overturned a Fourth Circuit decision which granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendants, in regards to their failure to grant Plaintiff reasonable accommodations under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Specifically, Plaintiff was a pregnant postal service worker who was told by her Doctor that she should not attempt to lift more than 20 pounds while pregnant. However, since the postal service ...
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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 ...
Continue Reading →19 MAR
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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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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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 ...
Continue Reading →24 FEB
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 ...
Continue Reading →12 FEB
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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