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On June 11, 2013, in Glatt v. Searchlight Pictures Inc., No. 11 Civ. 6784, 2013 WL 2495140 (S.D.N.Y. June 11, 2013) (Pauley, J.), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held that defendants Fox Searchlight Pictures Inc. ("Fox Searchlight"), a producer and distributor of feature films, and Fox Entertainment Group, Inc. ("Fox Entertainment"), the parent company of…Read More

In general, yes.  Employees' claims for wages, salaries or commissions earned before the filing of a corporate employer's bankruptcy petition are dischargeable, unless such pre-petition wage claims are debt for "willful and malicious injury by the debtor [the employer] to another entity [the employees] or to the property of another entity [the employees]."  11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6). The case law of the U.S. Court of…Read More

On June 26, 2013, the New York City Council, by a vote of 47 to 4, overrode Mayor Michael Bloomberg's veto of the Earned Sick Time Act, Local Law 46 of 2013 (the "New York City Earned Sick Time Act," the "Earned Sick Time Act," the "Act," or the "NYCESTA").  Effective April 1, 2014, and provided that certain economic benchmarks are met,…Read More

On March 29, 2013, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a state budget for the 2013-2014 fiscal year, N.Y. State Senate Bill S02607D, N.Y. State Assembly Bill No. A03007D ("the Act").  The Act includes a provision, Part P, which, over a period of three years, raises New York State's minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $9.00 per hour. This is the first…Read More

Potential clients often ask me questions along the lines of: "My company is just a small employer.  Does this [New York State or New York City] statute apply to me?" That is, prospective clients often inquire whether, in light of the number of workers that their businesses employ, their businesses must comply with a particular, labor-related statute enacted by, or a given,…Read More

On March 13, 2013, the New York City Council, by a vote of 43 to 4, overrode Mayor Michael Bloomberg's February 22, 2013 veto of Local Law 14 of 2013 ("Local Law 14" or the "Act").  Effective June 11, 2013, Local Law 14 prohibits any employer in New York City from basing an employment decision with regard to hiring, compensation, or the terms and…Read More

Neither federal law nor New York law requires an employer to offer, to either its female employees or its male employees, paid leave because of the birth of a son or daughter of the employee and in order to care for such son or daughter. However, most workers in New York State are eligible for temporary cash benefits, known as short-term disability…Read More

In New York City, it is common for the owner of a residential building to furnish the building's superintendent and the superintendent's family with an apartment to live in, rent free.  This practice raises the question: In New York State, does an employer receive credit toward the minimum wage for the rental value of an apartment provided, rent free, to a worker…Read More

Suppose that an employer in New York State has decided (for a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason) to end its working relationship with a particular worker.  Is the employer best off firing the worker outright or, instead, offering the worker the opportunity to quit rather than be fired? In New York, it makes little or no difference whether an employer discharges an employee or, instead, gives…Read More

In September 2012, in Kadden v. VisuaLex, LLC, No. 11 Civ. 4892, 2012 WL 4354781 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 24, 2012), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Scheindlin, J.), after a three-day bench trial, held that the plaintiff individual, a litigation graphics consultant ("graphics consultant") who held a law degree, was not exempt from the overtime pay requirements of the Fair Labor…Read More