An Appeals Court has recently ruled against Applebee’s regarding the payment of minimum wage to tipped employees. In that case, tipped employees, such as servers, bartenders and bussers spent more than 20% of their day performing non-tipped related activities, such as setting tables, cleaning silverware, filling salt and pepper shakers, cutting fruits and vegetables and general cleaning. Since tipped employees spent more than 20% of their day performing non-tipped related duties, they were entitled to the full minimum wage of ...
Continue Reading →18 NOV
Fitapelli & Schaffer filed a nation-wide class and collective action against Capital Grille, a chain of over 40 upscale steak houses. We are seeking to represent all tipped employees, including servers, bartenders, bussers, runners and barbacks who currently or have worked for the company for the past six years. We allege the following violations:
1. Minimum Wage- Employees should have been paid $7.25 per hour and should have been compensated for having to arrive at work 15 minutes before the start ...
Continue Reading →9 NOV
Fitapelli & Schaffer is pleased to announce that Judge Colleen McMahon of the United States District Court, Southern District of New York has approved a collective action notice which will be sent to all tipped employees who worked for the two Flute Bars in New York City during the past three years. If someone fills out and sends back the form, they will become a plaintiff in the case and will be eligible to share in ...
Continue Reading →3 NOV
Fitapelli & Schaffer filed a class and collective action against Public House Investments, LLC for failing to pay proper wages to tipped employees including servers, bussers, runners and bartenders. The lawsuit is brought on behalf of all tipped employees who worked at the following bars over the past six years: Public House, Butterfield 8, Tammany Hall and Wicker Park. The allegations include failure to pay minimum wage ($7.25 per hour), overtime (time and one half over 40 hours per week), ...
Continue Reading →25 OCT
In a recent decision by Judge Crotty in the Southern District of New York, John Catsimatidis was held to be jointly and severally liable for wage and hour violations committed by his company, Gristedes. Gristedes, one of the largest supermarkets in New York City was accused of failing to pay overtime to thousands of workers. The case was certified as a class action, and the workers were to receive well over $2 million. However, the Company argued that due to ...
Continue Reading →13 OCT
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Fitapelli & Schaffer recently filed a lawsuit seeking unpaid overtime on behalf of Marketing Representatives who have worked for Fidelis. We are seeking to have the Federal Overtime claims under the FLSA certified as a collective action, in which we would mail notices to all Marketing Representatives who worked for Fidelis. If someone sends back the form, they will opt-in to the case and be eligible for Double Damages. We are also seeking to ...
Continue Reading →12 OCT
A Judge in the Southern District of New York issued a significant opinion this week regarding the duties of a company to preserve evidence in a nationwide FLSA unpaid overtime case. Judge Cott denied KPMG’s motion for a protective order, requiring KPMG to maintain internal hard drives of thousands of Advisory Associates who worked for KPMG in the past 6 years. KPMG had argued that the expense and time required was too great. The Court disagreed, stating that KPMG must ...
Continue Reading →30 SEP
A class action was recently filed against Fox Searchlight Pictures on behalf of unpaid interns who worked on the popular movie Black Swan. The lawsuit alleges that interns worked well over 40 hours per week, while receiving no compensation. Under the law, generally an unpaid internship is legal if the person is receiving academic credit and the company receives no financial benefit in return. However, if no academic credit is received, the intern would be entitled to minimum wage and ...
Continue Reading →27 SEP
On September 26, 2011, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a landmark decision in a unpaid wages lawsuit against restaurants owned by Smith & Wollensky, a well-known brand of steakhouses. The Court ruled that Plaintiffs are able to bring a simultaneous Collective Action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and class action pursuant to the New York Labor Law (NYLL) in the same case. The Court ruled that under Federal Law and New York law, the violations are ...
Continue Reading →26 SEP
Generally, the answer is yes. Common industries where commissioned employees are not paid properly include account executives and mortgage loan officers.
1. Account Executives- these employees are typically paid salary plus commission. In that regard, account executives are entitled to overtime pay if they work over 40 hours a week. The reason is simple: Account Executives do not exercise discretion and independent judgment regarding matters of significance. An Account Executive cannot decide how much to sell the product for, they simply ...
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