In a particularly disturbing development, it is reported that a plaintiff in a wage-and-hour FLSA lawsuit – plaintiff Xue Hui Zhang, suing his former employer, Albany restaurant Ichiban, for $200,000 in back wages – was detained by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a deposition. As indicated in the above-linked news article (dated August…
Read More FLSA Plaintiff Detained by ICE During DepositionIn Nana v. Le Viking LLC d/b/a Bistro Chez Lucienne, 17-CV-928, 2019 WL 3244181 (SDNY July 19, 2019), the court, inter alia, held that plaintiff was entitled to $5,000 in emotional distress damages on his retaliation claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law. The court noted that “[a]lthough the…
Read More Emotional Distress Damages of $5,000 Awarded in Wage Retaliation CaseIn Lord v. Marilyn Model Mgt., Inc., 2019 NY Slip Op 05093 (App. Div. 1st Dept. June 25, 2019), the court reversed the lower court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s claim for breach of contract arising from defendant’s failure to pay him severance. The facts, as summarized by the court: As alleged in the complaint, plaintiff was…
Read More Modeling Scout Sufficiently Alleges Claims Relating to Failure to Pay Severance, First Department HoldsIn a recently-filed lawsuit, captioned Kelly Cahill et al v. Nike, Inc. (U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Index No. 18-cv-01477, filed August 9, 2018), the plaintiffs (individually and on behalf of others similarly situated) allege gender discrimination under the federal Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d) and related state laws (the…
Read More Just Sue It: Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Against NikeIn Leist v. JMC Pharmacy Inc., 2018 NY Slip Op 04974 (App. Div. 1st Dept. July 5, 2018), the court unanimously affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s claim for breach of contract. From the decision/order: There is no written contract, and the documents submitted by plaintiffs in an effort to show a purported meeting of the minds…
Read More Commission Claim Dismissed; Statute of Frauds AppliedCelebrities – they’re just like us! That is one take-away from a recent Eastern District of New York decision, Jones v. Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., a/k/a Busta Rhymes et al, 16-cv-2194, 2018 WL 2227990 (E.D.N.Y. May 14, 2018) (M.J. Levy). There, plaintiff sued Busta Rhymes and Starbus LLC, alleging “that, while employed by defendants as [Busta]’s…
Read More Court Declines to Adopt “Celebrity Exception” to Public Access to Settlement Agreement in Age Discrimination, Wage Lawsuit Against Busta RhymesIn Rizo v. Yovino, No. 16-15372 (9th Cir. Apr. 9, 2018) (en banc), an en banc (i.e., full) panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that prior salary alone or in combination with other factors cannot justify a wage differential between male and female employees under the “catchall” exception of the…
Read More Ninth Circuit Holds that Salary History May Not Justify Gender Pay Differential Under the Equal Pay Act [Rizo v. Yovino]In MICHELLE TULINO, Plaintiff, v. THE CITY OF NEW YORK, et al., Defendants., 2018 WL 1568970, at *3 (S.D.N.Y., 2018), the court held that neither party was entitled to summary judgment on her Equal Pay Act (federal and New York State) claims. The court explained the elements of such claims: [A] plaintiff must demonstrate that…
Read More Equal Pay Act Claims Continue; Summary Judgment Inappropriate for Plaintiff and DefendantBelow is a copy of the federal court complaint, captioned Avery v. Le Bernardin, Inc. et al, SDNY 18-cv-00626 (filed Jan. 24, 2018), against restaurant Le Bernardin, Inc., Maguy Le Coze, and Eric Ripert. The complaint alleges, inter alia, that defendant failed to pay plaintiff lawful wages; that “Women at Le Bernardin are sexually harassed,…
Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Le BernardinPursuant to New York City’s salary history ban, effective today, it is unlawful for public and private employers of any size in New York City to ask about a job applicant’s salary history during the hiring process – including in advertisements, on applications, or in interviews.
Read More NYC Salary History Inquiry Ban Takes Effect