Blog

In New Jersey, on-call time is considered hours worked when calls are so frequent or the on-call conditions so restrictive that the employees are not really free to use the intervening periods effectively for their own benefit. On-call time is not considered hours worked when employees are not required to remain on the employer's premises and are free to engage in their own…Read More

In Wells Fargo Investments v. Shaffer, FINRA Arbitration No. 10-00773 (Jan. 18, 2011), claimant/counter-respondent Wells Fargo Investments, LLC ("Wells Fargo," the "brokerage firm," or the "firm") had made to respondent/counter-claimant Kenneth C. Shaffer ("Mr. Shaffer," the "respondent employee," or the "employee") a forgivable loan when he began employment with the brokerage firm.  In January 2008, the respondent employee had signed a promissory note apparently stating that if Wells Fargo…Read More

If a company in New York State receives a subpoena demanding documents -- also known as a "subpoena duces tecum" -- in a lawsuit to which the company is not a party, the company should, among other actions: determine whether the subpoena was properly served on it; serve objection(s) within 20 days of receipt of the subpoena, unless a written stipulation is obtained extending…Read More

In October 2010, an arbitration panel of the FinancialIndustry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) in New York awarded compensatory damages of $715,000, plus interest and costs, to an investment banker, formerly employed by respondent Barclays Capital Inc. (“Barclays”), for breach of an implied contract to pay the investment banker a bonus for 2008. Whalen v. Barclays Capital Inc., Case No. 09-03587…Read More

On October 27, 2010, in Hazen v. Hill, Betts & Nash, LLP, Case No. 10114676 (N.Y. State Div. of Human Rights Oct. 27, 2010), the New York State Division of Human Rights (the "Division of Human Rights" or the "Division"), by a Notice and Final Order (the "Order") amending and adopting the recommendation of an administrative law judge (the "ALJ"),…Read More

In New York State, the rate of interest upon the loan or forbearance of any money, goods, or things in action may not exceed 16% per year.  N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 5-501(1); N.Y. Banking Law § 14-a(1).  That is, in New York, charging interest of more than 16% per year is civil usury. N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 5-511…Read More

On December 14, 2010, New York State Governor David Paterson signed into law the Wage Theft Protection Act, A. 11726/S. 8380 (the "Act").   The Act substantially increases civil and criminal penalties against employers which break New York's overtime pay laws, minimum wage laws, or other wage payment laws. This author's March 2010 post on the (then-pending) Wage Theft Prevention…Read More

In New York State, the employment of minors is governed by Article 4 of the New York Labor Law and by scattered sections of other state statutes.  A "minor" is any person less than 18 years of age. In brief, New York's laws governing child labor require a minor to have working papers; prohibit companies from employing minors in certain…Read More

On November 3, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") issued proposed regulations implementing the SEC's securities whistleblower bounty program.  That bounty program was established by section 922 of the recently enacted Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act” or “Dodd-Frank”), H.R. 4173. The proposed regulations will be set forth in Parts 240 and 249…Read More

Yes.  In the New York state courts, an order denying a defendant's pretrial motion to dismiss the plaintiff's complaint, N.Y. C.P.L.R. 3211, is immediately appealable as of right.  In other words, a defendant may take an interlocutory appeal to New York's Appellate Division from an order denying the defendant's pretrial motion to dismiss the lawsuit. In New York, the defendant…Read More