The Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the highest federal court in New York, held in Chauca v. Abraham that an employee may recover punitive damages against an employer under the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”) by showing merely that the employer acted with “with willful or wanton negligence” in discriminating against the employee. […]
On March 1, 2018, three United States Senators – Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) – wrote joint letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) requesting any information that the agencies have regarding the prevalence of sexual harassment in the financial industry. […]
On February 26, 2018, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a landmark decision in Zarda v. Altitude Express, holding that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of an employee’s sexual orientation. While the United States Supreme Court has not yet addressed this issue, the Second Circuit […]
Au Pairs across the nation recently obtained a huge victory in their fight to gain protection under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and various other laws. The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado granted class certification in a case entitled Beltran v. InterExchange, Inc. – a ruling that allows over 91,000 au […]
New York City recently adopted amendments to the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”) to extend new and heightened protections to employees requesting reasonable accommodations. Starting October 15, 2018, employers are required to engage in a “cooperative dialogue” with (i) employees with disabilities; (ii) pregnant women; (iii) victims of domestic violence; and (iv) individuals […]
On Monday, January 29, 2018, a group of Los Angeles attorneys unveiled a new app called “Kendr.” Kendr, a third-party cell phone app, provides a new avenue for employees to report workplace problems to their employers. Kendr allows employees in any industry to send messages to their employers – with the option to send a […]
California workers received an early holiday present as the United States Supreme Court denied a petition from Prudential Overall Supply – an employer seeking to force workers from state court and into a forum where workers’ claims must be brought on an individual basis. The petition followed the March 7, 2017 decision of Betancourt v. […]
Faruqi & Faruqi is pleased to announce final approval of the hard-fought settlement in Strong et al. v. Safe Auto Insurance Group, Inc. et al., No. 16-cv-765, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The class action settlement represents a remarkable 82% recovery of the unpaid overtime and statutory damages […]
Workers receive two big wins in federal court to ensure that their immigration status will not preclude them from raising wage and hour claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act. First, a Federal District Court in Illinois joins New York and other districts across the country to hold that the immigration status of a worker […]
Last week, Angel Hernandez filed a lawsuit, Hernandez v. The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball and Major League Baseball Blue, Inc., Case No. 17-cv-00456, alleging discrimination in how MLB’s promotion and postseason assignment policies are administered for umpires. Despite a remarkable 96.88% accuracy rating on calling balls and strikes in 2016, Hernandez was not […]
With the “Freelance Isn’t Free” Act, NYC Administrative Code § 20-927, et seq., coming into effect this week, New York City workers are better equipped to receive proper payment and protection from prevalent wage theft practices by employers. A skyrocketing number of freelancers, who steadily dominate today’s on-demand service economy, no longer have to worry […]
Workers in New York, Vermont, and Connecticut may now point to a single utterance of a racial slur when claiming that an employer has created a discriminatory hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This is significant as courts within the Second Circuit generally have sought a […]
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