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On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The new law extends protections under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to workers at companies with fewer than 500 employees and also requires companies with fewer than 500 employees to provide paid sick leave to workers under certain…
Category Archives: News & Commentary
New York Enacts Emergency Protections for Workers in Quarantine
In response to the growing COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law legislation to protect workers in COVID-19-related isolation and quarantine. This emergency legislation mandates sick, disability, and paid family leave for employees in government-ordered isolation or quarantine. The COVID-19 sick leave, is separate from any accrued sick-leave which an employee may already have….
Levy Ratner’s Allyson Belovin Named to City & State’s Power 100 List
Levy Ratner Partner Allyson L. Belovin has been selected as one of City & State’s 100 most impactful members of the New York Law Community. In its March 9th issue, the publication offers a look at the work that earned Belovin’s inclusion in this year’s list: When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was sued for blocking former Assemblyman…
Moving to Unionize: The State of Arts Work
Artnet and other news outlets have identified a rising trend: museum workers across the country are unionizing. These acts of organizing in the art world have been framed as a movement sweeping the nation, yet the complexities of unionization for professionals and institutions have remained opaque. This panel discussion will examine the contemporary state of…
Fight for $15
In our role representing the Fast Food Workers Committee, Levy Ratner attorneys helped structure successful workplace actions and demonstrations in New York City that formed a foundation for the national living‑wage movement known as Fight for $15. Micah Wissinger was one of the architects of landmark litigation before the National Labor Relations Board involving McDonald’s Corporation and…
Levy Ratner Champions the Rights of Low‑Wage Workers in Alabama
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. The legislature’s decision to block the wage increase,…
Black and Latino Electricians Win Racial Discrimination Case
The City of New York agreed to pay $155,000, plus attorneys’ fees, to five black and Latino electricians in their claims of race discrimination and retaliation against the FDNY. They were represented by Levy Ratner’s Dana E. Lossia and Robert H. Stroup.
Restaurant Workers Awarded $400k in Wage Violation Case
When seven restaurant workers sued their employer for claims of unpaid overtime and minimum wage violations, Levy Ratner’s Allyson L. Belovin reached a settlement of more than $400,000 on their behalf. Judge Ronnie Abrams of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, awarded the plaintiffs’ recoveries ranging from $15,700 up to $85,650 each,…
Women Stand Up Against Cleveland Fire Department Job Discrimination
Cleveland’s written and physical tests for firefighter jobs discriminate against women, found the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, based upon charges filed by Levy Ratner’s Dana Lossia and Rebekah Cook-Mack, along with our co-counsel at Nichols Kaster, PLLP. Our clients are women who were unfairly disqualified in the testing process and are demanding fair hiring…
In-Depth Case Study: Fire Department of New York
Roughly 25% of New York City residents are African American, but for decades the FDNY’s firefighting force was only around 3% black. Levy Ratner began investigating this disparity and learned that the City’s hiring process was systematically excluding black firefighter candidates who were well qualified to serve their City. Our clients – a group of…