John Mendoza* worked as an auto detailer at an auto body shop in Queens. Although his boss made him work six days a week–and John was an excellent and diligent worker–John’s boss paid him at a flat hourly salary. When John worked overtime, his boss refused to pay him at the legal overtime rate. John did not want to sue his boss for his rightful overtime pay; he was hoping that his boss would follow New York’s wages and hours law, and give him the overtime already owed, as well as paying proper wages in the future.
Unfortunately, John’s boss refused to pay at the legal overtime rate, and John had no choice but to hire Darren Rumack, who heads my Wages & Hours department, to fight his boss’s deliberate wage theft. We filed a suit in Federal Court, and John’s boss at first let the court know that it was fighting back. But eventually, John’s boss realized that he could not expect to succeed in committing wage theft and refusing to pay overtime, and Darren was able to negotiate a terrific settlement for John.
We hope that no one in New York is ever afraid to come forward to report an employer’s wage theft. Fair, proper, and legal wages & hours is a right belonging to all New York’s working men and women.
*The name John Mendoza is fictitious, and all identifying information has been changed for the privacy of our client.