News

On September 29, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released a long awaited draft of updated enforcement guidelines regarding workplace harassment.  The draft is the first document the EEOC has issued on harassment since it issued “Enforcement Guidance on Vicarious Liability for Unlawful Harassment by Supervisors,”  in 1999, according to an EEOC spokesperson.  The […]

Last week, a New York State Court rejected a motion by Uber, DoorDash and Grubhub for a preliminary injunction to stop a minimum wage of $17.96 from taking effect for those companies’ app-based food delivery workers in NYC.  This minimum wage was previously set to take effect on July 12, 2023 and is scheduled to […]

Despite a range of civil penalties in New York, employers continue to engage in widespread wage theft of employee’s earned wages amounting to, according to one estimate by Cornell University’s Worker Institute, nearly $1 billion dollars in lost wages per year. New York’s Wage Theft Accountability Act (S2832-A/A154-A), signed by Governor Kathy Hochul on September […]

Faruqi & Faruqi attorney Taylor J Crabil was recently cited in a law360 article titled "5 Things To Know About Retaliation In Employment Law," by Jon Steingart.  "The anti-retaliation provisions in employment laws are actually critical to furthering the purpose ofthe laws," he said. The provisions help workers raise concerns that an employer isn't providing […]

In June 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) issued a decision clarifying the test used to determine whether a worker is an employee under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) or an independent contractor.  The decision is significant because the NLRA provides employees (not independent contractors) with important protections, including forbidding employers from […]

On August 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that whether an employer knows an employee is not being paid is irrelevant to liability under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) in Perry v. City of New York. Rejecting the City of New York’s argument that they cannot be held […]

On August 25, 2023, the Second Circuit upheld a $17,780,063 jury verdict in favor of 2,519 EMTs and paramedics who sued the City of New York for overtime, alleging that the City required them to perform work before and after their shifts without compensation.   Before clocking in and responding to calls, EMTs and paramedics […]

Customer service representatives may be entitled to compensation for time spent logging into and out of computer programs and apps before their shifts.  For example, a recent lawsuit against Wayfair alleges that its customer service representatives (“CSRs”) spend an average of 10-15 minutes before each shift: “turning on and logging into…computers; connecting to [Wayfair’s] virtual […]

New York State appears poised to enact a law banning non-compete agreements.  Specifically, on June 20, 2023, the New York Assembly passed a bill that would amend the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) to add section 191-d, prohibiting non-compete agreements and authorizing covered individuals to bring civil actions against those who allegedly violated such prohibition. […]

Starting on July 12, 2023, over 60,000 food delivery workers employed by apps such as Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub in New York City must be paid at least $17.96 per hour, not including tips.  As of April 2025, the mandatory hourly pay will increase to $19.96 per hour.  New York City will allow the […]

On May 26, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams signed a bill into law expanding the list of characteristics that are protected under New York City’s discrimination laws to include a person’s weight and height.  Weight and height now join 27 other characteristics including, race, gender, age, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, national origin, marital status, […]

Judge Brantley Starr of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has issued a standing order requiring attorneys to include in all filings a certificate attesting either that (a) no portion of the filing was drafted by artificial intelligence (i.e., ChatGPT), or (b) that any language drafted by artificial intelligence was checked […]