Guzman v. VLM, Inc., 2008 WL 597186 (E.D.N.Y. 2008): Plaintiffs who worked as bakers, food handlers, storage handlers, landing dock employees, and in other job functions related to defendants' bakery operation sued their former employer. They claimed to regularly have worked over 40 hours a week without receiving time-and-a-half pay and "spread of hours" compensation for hours worked above 10 in a single day. They also claimed that the putative class consisted of up to 250 members. District Judge John Gleeson granted Plaintiffs' motion to certify a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and granted class certification of the employees' New York Labor Law Claims under FRCP 23.
Cox v. NAP Constr. Co., Inc., 10 N.Y.3d 592 (2008): The action involved contractors' agreements with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to do construction work on public housing projects that were funded by the government. Under the agreements, the contractors were required to pay their workers the prevailing rate of wages and supplemental benefits. Workers on the projects claimed that the contractors paid them substantially less. Having complained without success to the NYCHA, the workers sued the contractors and their sureties in civil court, alleging several violations of state law. The Court of Appeals held that workers entitled to be paid prevailing wages and supplemental benefits on publicly financed construction projects may bring a private right of action to recover their wages as third-party beneficiaries of the government contracts.
Dabrowski v. Abax, Inc., 64 A.D.3d 426, 882 N.Y.S.2d 119 (N.Y. App. Div.
1st Dep't 2009): The court held, in part, that Plaintiffs, a group of construction workers, pled their breach of contract causes of action with sufficient particularity by identifying the construction projects to which the contracts applied, listing some of the projects from the VENDEX database, and indentifying the prevailing wage provision mandated by Labor Law § 220.
Serrano v. Underground Utilities Corp., 407 N.J.Super. 253, 970 A.2d 1054 (App.Div. 2009): Immigrant employees who furnished labor as plumbers, steamfitters, and other construction workers on various government-financed public works projects filed a class action lawsuit against their employers, two New Jersey-based companies. Their lawsuit asserted violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act (PWA), and sought earned but unpaid overtime compensation, prevailing wages, and supplemental benefits. The workers also claimed that they were not compensated for work they performed at the shop and for time spent traveling in the employers' vehicles between the shop and the project sites. During discovery, the defendant-employer imposed questions pertaining to Plaintiffs' current addresses and immigration status. The court held that employers were precluded from asking for this information.
Galdamez v. Biordi Constr. Corp., 50 A.D.3d 357, 855 N.Y.S.2d 104 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dep't 2008): Workers moved to certify a class action to recover the prevailing rate of wages and supplemental benefits pursuant to Labor Law § 220. The court agreed that the Plaintiff workers had sufficiently established that the class was so numerous that joinder of all members was impracticable.
Pineda v. Kel-Tech Constr., Inc., 832 N.Y.S.2d 386 (Sup. Ct. New York County 2007): Undocumented aliens who worked on defendant contractors' construction projects with municipal corporations, including the New York City School Construction Authority and the New York City Housing Authority, filed action alleging that their employers failed to pay them the prevailing wage under New York Labor Law. Specifically, the workers claimed that the contractors utilized a money-laundering scheme to avoid paying the workers for all the hours they spent on the job. When the contractors moved for summary judgment to dismiss the case, the court held that undocumented workers may seek unpaid wages for work they have already performed, even if they allegedly used fraudulent documents to obtain employment.
Del Turco v. Speedwell Design, 623 F.Supp.2d 319 (E.D.N.Y. 2009): A union brought an action against a construction company, alleging failure to pay union wages and failure to make contributions to benefit funds pursuant to collective bargaining agreements (CBAs).
Westchester Teamsters Local 456 Annuity Fund v. Fleet Nat'l Bank, 38 E.B.C. 2803 (S.D.N.Y. 2006): Multiemployer benefit funds' investment adviser breached its ERISA fiduciary duties when it failed to uncover that the adviser's president had embezzled $2.8 million from funds.
Jara v. Strong Steel Door, Inc., 58 A.D.3d 600, 871 N.Y.S.2d 363 (N.Y.
App. Div. 2d Dep't 2009): The court found that in a situation where a Plaintiff provided false documentation of his eligibility to work in the United States and then sought payment of prevailing wages in accordance with Defendant's public works contracts, neither the contract at issue nor the work Plaintiff performed was illegal, and that the Plaintiff had a right to sue to recover his unpaid wages.
