Employment Law Litigation

Weiner v. McGraw-Hill, Inc., 57 N.Y.2d 458 (1982), the landmark case that first established under New York law that an employment application and/or handbook can create a binding contract. Weiner has been cited thousands of times by courts in New York and around the nation as well as in dozens of law review articles and treatises.

Hendler v. Intelecom U.S., Inc., 963 F. Supp. 200 (E.D.N.Y. 1997), established for the first time in the Second Circuit that an employee subjected to a hostile work environment on account of disability may sue in federal court.

Slaughter v. American Building Maintenance Co., 64 F. Supp. 2d 319 (S.D.N.Y. 1999), a case discussing an employee’s rights and an employer’s responsibilities under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Recent cases:

Overtime

Foster care caseworkers at social service agencies in New York and Puerto Rico were given comp time (instead of time and a half) when they worked overtime. Comp time was awarded only when the hours were pre-approved. Comp time was forfeited if not used within 90 days. (Federal District Court, Eastern District of New York, collective action pending, Jacobs et al. v. New York Foundling Hospital)

Dog kennel workers were denied overtime pay because the employer claimed that the daily meal breaks were not compensable. We argued that, the meal breaks were for the feeding of the dogs, not rest periods for the workers. (Federal District Court, Southern District of New York, back pay awarded.)

Hotel security guards were required to report to work in street clothes, proceed to a distribution point to be issued uniforms, proceed to locker room to change, and, only then, clock in for work and reverse the process at the end of the shift, which means each worker spent approximately 30 minutes per day off the clock. (Federal District Court, Southern District of New York, pre-suit settlement.) Next year, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether time spent “donning and doffing” uniforms is compensable.

Other overtime clients in recent years include insurance claims processors, tour guides, delicatessen sandwich makers, limousine service dispatchers, and many others.

Family and Medical Leave cases

A special education teacher took leave because of illness and to care for her seriously ill mother. Our client later moved to Florida and sought employment as a teacher. The principal, citing “excessive absenteeism,” gave our client unsatisfactory evaluations and references even though the law protected her right to take family and medical leave. The retaliatory references made it impossible for our client to obtain work. (Federal District Court, Southern District of New York.)

A broadcast technician developed insomnia from shift work and then suffered side effects from insomnia medication. She asked her human resources representative for information about medical leave. Instead of granting medical leave, our client was fired on a pretext. (Mediated settlement.)

Sexual Harassment Cases

Our client was a firefighter in suburban New York. Some of her male colleagues were unhappy that a woman had been hired, and subjected her to public humiliation and excluded from fire department social events. Complaints to the department resulted in a meaningless slap on the harassers’ wrists. Our client insisted on her right to respectful treatment. She then received an anonymous death threat. (Federal District Court, Eastern District of New York, settlement before trial.)

A copyreader in a large advertising agency received from his supervisor a number of obscene postcards and faxes, and was finally invited to a “party” at the supervisor’s apartment at which our client was the only guest. When the supervisor’s advances became unmistakable, our client rebuffed them, at first politely. The supervisor started reporting our client for trivial disciplinary infractions, retracted the company’s approval of our client’s flexible schedule that allowed him to attend physical therapy and replaced our client’s comfortable desk chair with a hard chair that aggravated his injury. (EEOC mediation.)

An office-building cleaner refused to date her supervisor. The supervisor fabricated a disciplinary infraction and transferred our client to another building. We worked with the union to reverse the transfer. (Arbitration.)

Retaliation cases

A garage mechanic at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection testified in support of a co-worker who had been the victim of race discrimination. Our client’s supervisor retaliated by lodging false disciplinary charges. (NYC Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, dismissal of discipline modified on appeal.)

A graphic designer received dozens of pornographic emails from his supervisor. When our client complained to human resources, he was “laid off” due to a purported economic downturn. (Federal District Court, Western District of New York, settlement before trial.)

A commercial artist was fired when her employer discoveed that she had discussed going to work for an out-of-state employer – and then the employer tried to enforce a covenant not to compete. We secured an injunction prohibiting enforcement of the non-competition agreement and an award of back pay. (Supreme Court, New York County.)

Disability discrimination

A carpenter for the NYC Board of Education whose disability rendered him unable to lift heavy weights was repeatedly denied accommodation. (Federal District Court, Southern District of New York .)

A qualified mental health worker applied for a part-time job at a major hospital. The hospital had seemed eager to hire our client -- until the in-person interview, when the hospital discovered that our client had a prosthetic right hand. The hospital claimed (but could not prove) that the prosthetic hand posed a danger to patients. (Federal District Court, Eastern District of New York.)

Our client was a vocational rehabilitation counselor who was herself legally blind. A new supervisor forbade the agency secretary to help our client read case reports. Our client copied case reports and then brought them home for use with a special electronic reader. The supervisor fired our client for removing case reports from agency premises. (Federal District Court, Southern District of New York.)

We have litigated and settled a number of cases on behalf of persons (bookkeepers, executives, advertising account representatives and laborers) with respiratory conditions who were subjected to secondhand smoke in the workplace.

Sales commissions, benefits and bonuses

We have represented employees in a number of industries, including health care, printing, securities, employee placement, wholesaling and food service.

Back pay

We pursue employers who refuse to pay wages and salaries owed to their employees, filing lawsuits and executing judgments if necessary.

Whistleblower

Our client was a manager of a residential facility for the disabled. She discovered that the facility had cut corners in a way potentially harmful to patients. When she reported the improper practice to her superiors, she was fired for pretextual reasons. (Supreme Court, Suffolk County.)