Lawyer Sues Firm for Failing to Pay Overtime
By JOHN ELIGON
Published: July 7, 2010
This article discusses a claim that a New York law firm did not pay time-and-a-half to a temporary attorney employee who worked more than 40 hours a week. The lawsuit is part of growing trend around the country where hourly employees sue to obtain overtime that their employers were obligated to pay under state and federal wage laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The New York Times Reports:
In a complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan, the lawyer, Moshe Koplowitz, said that the firm he did temporary work for, Labaton Sucharow, did not pay him at a higher rate when he worked more than 40 hours in a week.
Mr. Koplowitz worked only a few months at the firm because he was hired as a temporary employee, and he sometimes worked more than 50 hours a week, said D. Maimon Kirschenbaum, the lawyer who drafted the complaint.
Mr. Kirschenbaum said that federal law required employees paid by the hour to receive one-and-a-half times their regular pay for every hour over 40 hours worked in a week.
In our work as Illinois wage and hour class action attorneys, we frequently see workers who have been misclassified as exempt from overtime. Whether this was an honest mistake or an intentional attempt to save money, it effectively “steals” wages from the misclassified employees. Lubin Austermuehle stands up for the rights of workers in Chicago, Illinois and throughout the country who are victims of overtime wage theft, including misclassified employees as well as those pressured to work off the clock; lie on timesheets; or simply not paid an overtime rate. Our Waukegan, Aurora, Joliet and Chicago unpaid overtime class action lawyers handle both individual and class action employment cases. Based in Chicago and Oak Brook, Ill., our Chicago class action attorneys represent clients throughout Illinois, the Midwest and the United States.