BJ’s Wholesale Club and the representatives of a class of BJ’s Wholesale employees reportedly informed a federal court in Massachusetts earlier this month that they had reached a settlement agreement on the employees’ claims that BJ’s failed to pay them overtime. The class of BJ’s employees included loss prevention managers,…
A federal court in New York has found that Fox Searchlight Pictures unlawfully failed to pay interns who worked on the movie Black Swan. Under federal and New York law, an employer may not refuse to pay interns who work as employees. The court applied six criteria set forth by…
Rep. Scott Hamann, D-South Portland, has introduced a bill that would raise the minimum wage in Maine from $7.50/hr to $8.50/hr. The bill would also require the minimum wage to rise on an annual basis at the same rate as inflation. Maine’s AFL-CIO as well as other unions favor the…
This week, Maine began to use a new uniform legal definition for who is an “independent contractor” and who is an “employee.” This distinction is important for purposes of determining whether a worker is entitled to workers compensation, unemployment insurance, overtime pay, and other benefits. While employees are entitled to…
Today, the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s holding that Starbucks violated Massachusetts’ tip sharing law. A group of current and former Starbucks baristas (employees who serve customers) brought this class action against Starbucks because Starbucks required them to share the money deposited in tip jars…
Today, the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appeals court that covers Maine and other New England states, held that a class action against the Caritas Christi hospital network could go forward. The plaintiffs in the case allege that Caritas failed to pay them, and employees like them, for…
A class of former interns that worked for the Charlie Rose Show, a TV show that appears on PBS, have filed a class action lawsuit against Charlie Rose and the company that produces his show. The interns allege that their internships involved work that employees, not interns, are supposed to…
Today, the Connecticut Department of Labor (CDOL) announced that in January and February, 2012, it issued “Stop Work orders” to 19 companies working on construction projects in Connecticut. One of these companies was Deanes, Inc., a Maine based company that was working on a rest stop on I-95 in Milford,…
Today, the California Attorney General’s office settled an ongoing lawsuit against a group of car washes for more than $1,000,000. According to the California AG, the case arose because investigators found the car washes denied employees minimum wage and overtime, failed to pay wages to employees who quit or were…
Yesterday, President Obama announced that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) had enacted a new regulation that will require home care workers to be paid minimum wage and overtime pay. Home care workers are workers who care for elderly and infirm patients in the patients’ own homes. Up until this…