wage and hour litigation

California Wage Theft Lawsuit Costs McDonald’s $26 Million

October 7, 2020 | by Nassiri Law

Tens of thousands of California fast-food workers at corporate-owned McDonald’s restaurants in California will be getting a cut of the $26 million class action lawsuit over years-old allegations of wage theft.

On average, each employee can expect to receive about $330, though some may have as much as $4,000 coming to them.

Business Insider reports the lawsuit was first filed seven years ago, with the corporation accused of engaging in numerous illegal practices to scam workers of fair wages, including:

Not paying all wages when they were due.
Not providing rest and meal breaks for workers.
Not paying overtime wages.
Not paying minimum wages.

3rd Circuit COA: Dancer Not Required to Arbitrate Wage and Hour Claim

August 26, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

An exotic dancer wishing to pursue a class action wage-and-hour lawsuit against her former employer will not be compelled to arbitrate her claim – despite previously signing an arbitration agreement prior to employment.

According to the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the arbitration clause plaintiff signed is not applicable to a proposed class action that asserts the strip club employer misclassified dancers as independent contractors rather than employees. In a unanimous ruling, justices determined the agreement was only applicable for claims that arose under her employment agreement – not statutory claims such as a wage-and-hour lawsuit.

Misclassification of workers is a serious and ongoing problem, leading to workers being underpaid and denied many important benefits of employment. Misclassification involves the practice of labeling workers as independent contractors, as opposed to employees. The benefit for employers with this, as noted by the National Conference of State Legislatures, is they avoid paying unemployment and other taxes on workers, and also from covering them on workers’ compensation insurance and unemployment insurance. Continue Reading ›

Workers Sue Popular California Eatery Over Wage Violations

September 17, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

A popular Bay Area restaurant chain is facing down accusations of California wage violations for failure to properly pay its kitchen staff, according to media reports. The workers accuse the company, Burma Superstar, of:

Failing to pay minimum wage;
Denying workers overtime pay;
Refusing workers breaks;
Wrongly refusing workers sick leave.

The chain is famous for its tea leaf salad, which has become wildly popular in recent years. The kitchen staffers say they prided themselves on doing a good job and worked hard to make the chain successful. The fact that they were denied fair wages was an affront not just to their finances, but to the loyalty and dedication they had shown to the job.

Workers are now pursuing class action status for the lawsuit, which was filed in Alameda County Superior Court. Plaintiffs are asking for back wages, attorneys fees and other penalties. Continue Reading ›

Perez v. D. Howes, LLC – Misclassification of Farm Worker Employees

July 25, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

Somewhere between 1 and 3 million workers migrate from various locations across the world – usually Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean – to work as laborers in U.S. farms.

Vital as these workers are to the labor force, they are often mistreated, underpaid and sometimes even abused. Employers sometimes use threats and intimidation to silence these workers from reporting workplace injuries, wage theft violations and sexual abuse.

Although these workers aren’t the only labor force to suffer from a concept known as “misclassification,” they certainly are subjected to it quite often.

Misclassification refers to an illegal practice by employers of classifying workers as “independent contractors” rather than “employees” to evade paying workers’ compensation insurance premiums, benefits, certain taxes and fair wages. Continue Reading ›