This case began in 2015 when the Alabama state legislature passed a bill to block the Birmingham City Council’s attempt to raise the minimum wage in Birmingham to $10.10. The wage increase would have made Birmingham the first city in the South to raise its minimum wage.
Category Archives: Case Spotlight
$400,000 Settlement Reached for Restaurant Workers in Wage Violation Case
Judge Ronnie Abrams has approved a settlement of more than $400,000 for claims of, among other things, unpaid overtime and minimum wages by seven workers represented by Levy Ratner. Susan Cameron discusses the settlement on NY1 Noticias here.
Class Action Filed on Behalf of Non‑Union Home Care Workers Alleges ERISA and New York Wage Parity Violations
On November 28, 2018, Levy Ratner and Feinberg Jackson Worthman & Wasow filed a class action on behalf of Plaintiffs Ynes Gonzalez de Fuente, Mariya Kobryn, and Ivan Kobryn in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York against, among others, Preferred Home Care of New York, Edison Home Health Care,…
In Another Victory for Fast‑Food Workers, Judge rejects McDonald’s Settlement
On July 16, Administrative Law Judge Lauren Esposito rejected a proposed settlement between McDonald’s USA and the General Counsel National Labor Relations Board, in large part because it would have little actual impact on the workers affected by McDonald’s unfair labor practices. In 2012 McDonald’s workers complained of retaliation for supporting “Fight for $15,” a…
NLRB Rules in Favor of Graduate Student Unions at Private Universities
The NLRB has ruled that graduate student employees at Columbia University and other private universities have the right to form or join a union and bargain collectively, reversing a 2004 Brown University decision. Levy Ratner’s Carl Levine, who devotes a large portion of his practice to representing faculty members and unions at colleges and universities,…
Suit Against Governor of Alabama Alleges that Blocking Minimum Wage Increase Disproportionately Affected Black Residents of Birmingham and Violated Equal Protection Clause
Levy Ratner’s Bob Stroup is among the attorneys representing Birmingham fast-food workers, the Alabama NAACP and Greater Birmingham Ministries, in a federal civil rights lawsuit charging that Ala. Gov. Robert Bentley illegally blocked a measure that would have raised pay for workers in the predominantly black city to $10.10. The plaintiffs argue that the bill that nullified a…
Victory over Domino’s Pizza’s Unlawful Arbitration Agreement, on Behalf of the Fast Food Workers Committee
The Fast Food Workers Committee, represented by LR’s Micah Wissinger and Gwynne Wilcox, earned a major win in their fight on behalf of fast food workers nationally. In December 2015, the NLRB ruled that Domino’s violated the law by maintaining an arbitration agreement that required employees, as a condition of employment, to waive their rights…
FDNY Electricians Win Settlement of Race Discrimination Claims Against the City of New York
The City of New York agreed to pay $155,000, plus attorneys’ fees, to five black and Latino electricians represented by Levy Ratner in their claims of race discrimination and retaliation against the FDNY. The plaintiffs in Seabrook, et al v. City of New York also won an injunctive relief settlement aimed at advancing cultural change…