Feb 1
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Passing fines onto employees in the finance industry may be on the rise. Companies such as Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and UBS that have been probed and fined recently by the SEC for misuse of personal devices. Some of these financial firms are now looking into offloading these fines onto their employees. In 2021, the SEC launched an investigation into banks to see if they had been properly monitoring their employees’ conversations regarding official business. This past September, the agency ended up fining 16 financial institutions, including some big-name banks, $1.8 billion after evidence of employees discussing business deals and trades on personal devices or apps such as WhatsApp.
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Jan 25
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Timesheet rounding for workers is unfortunately a common tactic used by employers to save on labor costs at the expense of their employees. Companies in the retail industry that require their employees to clock-in and out of their shifts often times resort to rounding their worker’s times spent completing their shifts. This often results in employees’ pay being less than what they should be. Recently, the home improvement giant, The Home Depot, came under fire for rounding it’s workers time to calculate their pay. Several lawsuits against the retailer alleged that Home Depot frequently rounded down when using their time clock data resulting in significant wage loss for their employees over time.
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Jan 12
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Tipped workers for a BBQ chain restaurant based out of Maryland have recently settled claims of owed wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). These tipped workers alleged that Famous Dave’s BBQ, owned and operated by Famous Dave’s of America, Inc., failed to properly pay them for minimum and overtime wages. The nearly $1 million settlement will resolve these claims and affect a class of about 680 current and former tipped workers in server and bartender positions at any of the Famous Dave’s of America, Inc. run locations.
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Jan 12
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Amid the growing concerns of a recession, many industries are finding themselves impacted by significant job cuts. Recently, higher-paid, white collar banking and finance employees have been on the receiving end of these financial firm layoff announcements. The financial services industry has recently announced a wave of thousands of job cuts given the slowing economy and warns they may continue to come. This comes after more than 24,000 jobs were cut last year, a whopping 127% increase compared with 10,784 job losses in 2021.
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Dec 23
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
An overtime pay misclassification lawsuit against a big-name financial firm has recently resolved claims of owed wages. This firm, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, is globally noted as one of the largest banks and brokerage firms and the investment and wealth management division of Bank of America. The collective action lawsuit against Merrill Lynch was filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and settled claims of unpaid overtime for $3.4 million. Affected employees for these claims include all current and former Financial Solutions Advisors who worked for Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. between August 3, 2020 and August 10, 2022 and should be eligible to recover lost wages from this settlement.
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Dec 15
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Pepsi, the multinational beverage and snack producer, has resolved claims of unpaid wages for nearly $13 million after a New York federal judge preliminary approves the deal. Approximately 70,000 current and former hourly employees who were employed by Pepsi between December 1, 2021 and the present stand to benefit from the $12.75 million settlement. The case, originally filed January of this year, alleged that a widespread Kronos hack, that caused an outage of Pepsi’s timekeeping system for several months, caused them to incorrectly keep track of their employees’ schedules resulting in significant underpayment.
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Dec 7
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Hourly employees at doughnut chain, Krispy Kreme, have recently resolved claims of unpaid wages. A settlement of over $1.1 million will end allegations that Krispy Kreme failed to pay its hourly employees all of their overtime wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). More than 500 workers at 242 Krispy Kreme locations nationwide stand to benefit from the $1,187,757 payout.
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Nov 23
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Delivery drivers for Papa John’s have reached a significant settlement amount for owed wages. The collective of pizza drivers are presenting the $20 million deal to a federal judge in New York for approval ending claims that they were incorrectly reimbursed for out of pocket vehicle expenses accrued while completing job duties. Workers for Papa John’s International, Inc.(“PJI”) throughout at least seven states, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota and Missouri,stand to benefit from this settlement. The lawsuit was originally filed six years ago under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and several state minimum wage statutes.
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Nov 16
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Weekly pay lawsuits have increased recently and despite several attempts to dismiss workers claims, courts have denied these motions and kept these claims alive. Hourly employees for retail giants, such as Zara USA Inc. and Walmart, have been able to continue forward with their case for untimely pay after being paid biweekly instead of weekly. Hourly workers in the retail industry, as well as other manualworkers in New York State, should be paid their wages within seven calendar days after the end of the week in which these wages were earned as required by the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”).
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Nov 11
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Hospital workers for Aurora Health Care Inc. have settled their class action lawsuit alleging owed wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The nearly $9 million payout will resolve claims that the medical service provider failed to pay its hourly employees for regular hours as well as overtime pay. The Aurora Health Care system employs individuals in 16 hospitals, 70 pharmacies and over 150 clinics in eastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Affected employees include hourly workersthat were employed by Aurora Health Care locations inWisconsin between August 14, 2017 and December 31, 2021.
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Nov 4
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Truck drivers for a logistics company have recently settled claims of owed wages for $6 million.The California based logistics company, Rail Delivery Services Inc., allegedly failed to properly classify its truck drivers as employees and instead considered them independent contractors. The settlement was reached on behalf of nearly 400 truck drivers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the California Labor Code.
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Oct 25
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Gig workers of Instacart in California have just resolved owed wage claims under California’s labor laws for asubstantial settlement. The $46.5 million agreement will benefit over 300,000 gig workers in San Diego that worked for the grocery delivery platform between September 2015 through December 2020. The claims were brought under California’s Unfair Competition Law and alleged gig workers were misclassified as exempt from numerous wage and job benefits. Affected gig workers’ settlement portions will be calculated based on the number of hours each worker worked during the 5 year period.
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Oct 13
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Steel mill workers in Alabama were recently awarded a significant settlement totaling over $13 million for unpaid wages. The class action awsuit was filed in Alabama under local state laws as well as the Fair Labor Standard’s Act (“FLSA”) for unpaid overtime. Over 275 steel mill workers stand to benefit from the $13.17 million settlement. Those eligible to participate in this recovery include all current and former steel mill workers that were employed by Outokumpu Stainless Steel USA, LLC since November 1, 2018.
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Sep 28
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Assistant store managers for the clothing retailer, Burlington Coat Factory, have swiftly resolved claims of unpaid wages in New Jersey federal court. The collective action lawsuit had aimed to recover unpaid overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) for current and former Assistant Store Managers employed by Burlington Coat Factory between from February 4, 2019 and February 28, 2021 across the United States working over 40 hours per week. Over 1,700 current and former assistant store managers that were allegedly misclassified and exempt from overtime pay will benefit from the $11 million payout.
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Sep 20
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Caregivers at Assisted Living Facilities to Receive $9.5M for Unpaid Wages
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Sep 9
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Hospital workers for a hospital group based out of Florida have reached a nearly $20 million settlement to settle claims of significant unpaid wages. The hospital group, Sacred Heart Health System, has more than 2,600 facilities with more than 100,000 employees across the United States making it one of the largest healthcare providers in the country. The $19.7 million settlement will resolve claims for approximately thousands of hospital workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). All current and former non-exempt hourly hospital workers within the last three years stand to benefit from this payout.
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Aug 29
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Sales Representatives to Receive $6.7M To Settle OT Claims from Vacation Resorts
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Aug 17
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Healthcare workers for NorthShore University Health System, based out of Illinois, have recently settled a class action lawsuit over vaccine mandates. The hefty settlement, which reached over $10.3 million, will resolve claims employees made relating to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. More than 500 current and former healthcare workers employed by the NorthShore University Health System will benefit from the $10,337,500 payout.
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Aug 16
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Zara Retailer Lawsuit for Owed Wages Successfully Moves Forward
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Aug 11
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Chipotle Mexican Grill, the California-based fast-food chain, has recently agreed to end workers’ claims of multiple violations of New York City’s Fair Workweek Law. . The whopping $20 million settlement will resolveclaims that Chipotle violated several city labor laws. More than 13,000 employees stand to benefit from this settlement. Affected individuals include current and former Chipotle hourly employees who worked for the chain’s New York City locations between 2017 and 2022.
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Jul 22
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Managers for the fast-food chain, Red Robin, have recently settled claims of unpaid wages for nearly 3 million dollars. A class and collective action lawsuit was initially filed on behalf of kitchen managers of several Red Robin locations in New York back in August 2018 for allegations of misclassification for unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). Affected workers include current and former assistant managers and kitchen managers in New York State with more than 500 workers benefiting from this settlement.
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Jul 7
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Travel Nurses for a medical staffing company based out of California are on track to recovering nearly $2 million in owed wages. The class action lawsuit, originally filed in 2017 under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), looked to recover unpaid wages for overtime pay. Almost 300 travel nurses employed by Jackson Nurse Professionals LLC, a staffing company, stand to benefit from this payout with some workers receiving over $35,000.
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Jun 17
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Prison guards in Missouri will be able to recover significant amount of owed wages, after a decade long lawsuit. Approximately 13,000 current and former prison guards from over 20 state prisons across the Missouri stand to benefit from the $128 million settlement. The preliminarily approvedsettlement will be paid out in installments. First, $33 million of the total will go to affected employees that will each get a prorated amount based on how long they worked for the agency.Then, over the course of the next 8 years, $65 million will be paid out to prison guards via an extra 15 minutes of overtime for every shift they work.
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Jun 9
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Account executives for a national wholesale mortgage lending company have recently settled claims of unpaid wages. The nearly $3 million settlement with United Wholesale Mortgagewill resolve claims of unpaid overtime dating back as far as 2018. Current and former account executives that were employed by United Wholesale Mortgage between October 12, 2018 and December 23, 2021 stand to benefit from the $2.75 million settlement.
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Jun 6
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Nursing facility caregivers have recently been able to recover nearly $3 million in owed wages. Peterson Health Care Inc., which manages health care centers across several states, allegedly failed to pay its workers the proper overtime. Affected workers include over 3,000 nursing facility caregivers at 84 locations employed by Peterson Health Care throughout Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri.
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May 20
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Warehouse workers in Illinois have recently settled a collective and class action lawsuit accusing a logistics company for unpaid wages. The lawsuit, which was originally filed mid 2020 against Pinnacle, brought wage claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the Illinois Minimum Wage Law (“IMWL”), the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (“IWPCA”), the Maryland Wage and Hour Law (“MWHL”) and the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law (“MWPCL”). The $3.25 million settlement will resolve claims of unpaid overtime for over 5,000 employees that worked for Pinnacle for at least the last three years prior to when this case was filed through to final judgment date in this matter.
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May 11
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Disaster relief workers for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) have just reached a substantial settlement resolving claims of unpaid wages. The $16.5 million deal will settle claims of unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”)made by disaster relief workers paid by FEMA.More that 3,800 current and former workers part of the class action will benefit from the nearly $17 million settlement.
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Apr 29
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
IT sales representatives for A Canadian based information technology company have just resolved their claims of unpaid wages. This collective action lawsuit, which was originally filedless than two months ago, reached a settlement deal of $1.8 million to cover allegations of significant unpaid wages. Approximately 190 IT Sales Representatives that worked for Softchoice in Illinois between June 28, 2018, and Oct. 31, 2021stand to benefit from this payout.
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Apr 15
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Drivers for a Houston area public service transit company have recently resolved unpaid wage claims from a collective action filed back in 2020. The nearly $4.9 million settlement will cover claims of unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The original complaint alleged drivers were wrongly classified as independent contractors when they should have been considered employees entitled to overtime pay at time and a half their regular hourly rate when working over 40 hours per week. More than 260 drivers stand to benefit from the $4,875,000 million settlement with each driver receiving an average of nearly $19,000.
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Mar 30
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Workers for a online gift retailer in Illinois, owned by Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., have reached a significant settlement to end biometric privacy claims that their employer used illegalfingerprint scanning practices. A federal judge is set to approve the $4.5 million deal after both parties reached this settlement after an 11-hour mediation this past October. More than 200,000 employees of Personalizationmall.com LLC stand to benefit from this payout.
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Mar 28
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
In May of 2020, Walmart manual workers filed a class action lawsuit against the grocery chain and retailer in the Northern District of New York for underpayment caused by the late payment of wages. Walmart allegedly failed to compensate its hourly cashiers, front end associates, stockers, receiving associates, sales associates, and other similarly situated manual labor positions on a bi-weekly basis as required by the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). Instead, these manual workers were paid on a bi-weekly basis even though they spent more than twenty-five percent of their shift time completing physical tasks. The federal judge in this matter has just ruled in favor of these workers, allowing the case to move forward to the fact finding stage.
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Mar 23
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Home health aides for a Pennsylvania based home health care agency have just been awarded $4.5 million in owed wages. The agency, Successful Aging Care Net Inc., allegedly failed to pay its home health aides the correct overtime pay when working over 40 hours in one work week. This lawsuit, that was originally filed in 2020 for violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, will help more than 500 workers benefit from this payout. Affected workers include home health aides, office staff employees,and nurses.
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Mar 11
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Cleaners for a facilities service provider have filed a class and collective action lawsuit against W Services Group LLC for unpaid wages. This lawsuit seeks to recover minimum wages and overtime compensation and other damages for similarly situated cleaners who have worked for W Services Group LLC (“W Services”) and Cleaning Path Corp. (“Cleaning Path”). Affected cleaners may include janitorial, floor care, exterior maintenance, specialty, and emergency response workers who have completed work for W Services and Cleaning Path in New York between July 25, 2015 and the date of final judgment in this matter.
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Feb 24
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Hourly Workers for Advance Auto Parts have recently filed a class action lawsuit against Advance Auto Parts for failing to pay its hourly workers in New York correctly. This lawsuit, filed by Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, seeks to recover underpayment caused by untimely wage payments and other damages under the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). Affected employees may include all similarly situated non-exempt hourly positions such as store drivers and all other hourly workers who work or have worked for Advance Stores Company, Inc. in New York State from February 1, 2016 through the date of final judgment in this matter.
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Feb 15
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Call center employees of Nelnet, a student loan servicer, have just resolved claims of unpaid wages. Nelnet allegedly failed to pay its call center workers the proper overtime wages when working over 40 hours in a work week. The collective action settled for nearly $1.7 million which will benefit 336 current and former call center employees of Nelnet under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).
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Feb 4
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
A large group of workers in chicken plants have just resolved claims of unpaid wages for $3.3 million. The workers alleged they went significantly underpaid when hired out by subcontractors for federally funded contracts to remove potentially infected poultry waste. The main contractor responsible for the affected workers is the Massachusetts based Clean Harbors Environments Services Inc. They allegedly failed to ensure that workers were getting paid in accordance with the contracted rates. The settlement will recover wages for more than 4,000 workers throughout nearly 90 job locations across the state of Iowa.
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Jan 21
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Planet Fitness has just been sued by its employees in New York alleging they went underpaid in accordance with New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). The class action lawsuit was filed this past Wednesday, January 19, 2022, and seeks to recover untimely wage compensation and other damages for similarly situated hourly manual workers. Affected employees include allmember service representatives, fitness trainers, front desk employees, and other employees in similar hourly positions who work or have worked as manual workers for Planet Fitness in New York State between June 5, 2015 and the date of final judgment in this matter.
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Jan 11
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Old Navy, the chain clothing retailer, has just been sued for unpaid wages. Hourly workers in New York State for the clothing retailer allege they were not paid weekly as required by the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). This lawsuit seeks to recover underpayment caused by untimely wage payments and other damages. Affected workers may include all those who work or have worked as hourly employees such as sales representatives for Old Navy, LLC between November 24, 2015 and the date of final judgment in this matter.
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Jan 4
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Last year, Petco manual workers filed a class action lawsuit against the pet supplies retailer seeking compensation in the Eastern District of New York for underpayments caused by the late payment of wages. Petco allegedly failed to compensate its similarly situated hourly guest experience specialists, sales associates, dog trainers, and other similar manual labor positions on a weekly basis as required by the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). Instead, these manual workers were paid on a bi-weekly basis even though they spent more than twenty-five percent of their shift time completing physical tasks. The Judge in this matter has just ruled in favor of these workers, allowing the case to move forward.
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Dec 16
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
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.
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Dec 8
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Tipped workers of The Boatyard Grill have filed a collective and class action lawsuit against the Ithaca, NY based restaurant in order to recover significant wages. The lawsuit seeks to recover minimum wages, overtime compensation, unlawful deductions, uniform reimbursement, spread of hours pay, and other damages for similarly situated tipped workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). Affected employees include servers, runners, bussers, bartenders, barbacks who work or have worked at The Boatyard Grill located at 525 Taughannock Blvd., Ithaca, New York 14850.
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Nov 19
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Delivery drivers for CVS Health Corp., specifically its subsidiary, Omnicare, have recently settled claims for unpaid wages. A district judge in West Virginia approved the nearly $12 million settlement this past Monday resolving claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The class of delivery drivers alleged that they were incorrectly classified as independent contractors and in turn deprived of significant wages. The $11.9 million settlement will benefit over 1,200 current and former drivers for Omnicare.
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Nov 11
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Nurse practitioners and physician assistants for the federal government have just resolved claims of unpaid wages for a staggering $160 million. These care providers whoworked for the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs alleged they went unpaid when working overtime hours.Approximately 3,200 current and former nurse practitioners and physician assistants who worked for this federal agency stand to benefit from this payout.
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Nov 5
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Meatpackers for Cargill Meat Solutions Corp., a Pennsylvania meat plant, have recently filed a class action lawsuit alleging they are owed significant wages. Meatpackers for the company have claimed they went unpaid for time spent undergoing COVID screenings.Thousands of workers at the company’s two plant locations could be affected under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (“PMWA”).
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Oct 14
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Nurses for Humana, one of the nation’s largest publicly-traded health and supplemental benefits companies, will soon receive millions in unpaid wages. A collective action lawsuit filed back in 2017 accused the health provider of wrongfully classifying a group of nurses as exempt from receiving overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). All clinical nurse advisors or those in similarly situated positions such as Clinical Intake, Clinical Claims Review, Clinical Claims Review, DME, Acute Case Managers, Market Clinical, and Senior Products utilization management nurses that worked for Humana at any time within the three years prior to June 14, 2018 will be able to benefit from the $11.2 million settlement.
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Sep 29
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Misclassified independent contractors for a Utah alcohol control agency have alleged they are owed significant wages. In a recently filed collective action lawsuit, these workers claimed that the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control failed to correctly compensate them for overtime hours worked. The collectiveaction lawsuit was filed by 13 former and current workers in federal court and is seeking $8 million in damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).
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Sep 16
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Walmart has just agreed to pay $35 million to resolve wage statement claims to a group of store employees. A class action lawsuit that was filed nearly four years ago in California alleged that Walmart failed to provide accurate written wage statementsas required by California law. Even though Walmart denies any wrongdoing, they have come to an agreement to pay $35 million to resolve the potential claims of approximately 265,000 current and former employees.
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Sep 7
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Manual workers of Lowe’s Home Centers who filed a class action last year for untimely wage compensation will continue to move forward with their claims to try and recover owed wages. The district judge on this case, Rachel P. Kovner, denied in part Lowe’s motion to have the case dismissed. This case which was filed February 28, 2020 will continue to move forward under New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) §§ 191 and 198(1-a) and seeks to represent all manual workers that worked for Lowe’s in New York State from February 28, 2014 and the date of final judgment in this matter.
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Aug 25
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
A new biometric privacy law in New York City has recently gone into effect. Following in the footsteps of other cities with strict biometric laws, such as Chicago and Portland, NYC is stepping up protection measures for consumers. With significant technology advancements over the years, the way companies keep track of its consumershas drastically changed. Identifying people via retina, facial and fingerprint scans is now commonplace. Many big retail stores collect biometric identifier information by taking images of unsuspecting customers while they are shopping. Unfortunately, having your biometric data on file somewhere can leave you vulnerable, especially if you don’t know what the company is doing with it or who has access to it. Obviously if your biometric data was compromised, you should be entitled to compensation if your rights have been violated. Now, under NYC’s new biometric privacy law, companies may be liable for collecting and profiting from your biometric data – even if it is never compromised.
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Aug 19
Posted by: Brian Schaffer
Front line medical workers in New York have just confirmed a huge win of significant owed wages. Nearly 2,500 EMTs and paramedics will keep their $14.5 million award after they filed a class action lawsuit back in 2013 under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Despite the city and FDNY disputing the award and asking it be overturned, a U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick ruled in favor of the front line medical workers. The federal judge noted that the city’s FLSA violations were willfully enforcing policies that kept these essential workers from getting paid for all of the hours they worked.
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