EMPLOYMENT LAW

Wage Theft Lawsuits

If your employer fails to pay for certain time spent at the workplace and on the job, you may be entitled to years’ worth of unpaid wages and overtime previously unpaid by companies trying to cut corners on the payroll. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), there are several ways employers violate federal and state law—employers that may be targets of wage and hour lawsuits.

Industries that account for the majority of wage violations include retail jobs, restaurant work, construction and manufacturing. In 2012, the Wage and Hour Division of the DOL reported that in more than 1,800 restaurant investigations, they found violations in over 70 percent.

American employees get cheated out of overtime and time on the job, often in already low-wage positions. Ohio workers and local workplace attorneys have filed unpaid wages lawsuits, due to companies failing to pay overtime, time changing into work clothes, misclassifying employees, failure to provide meals and required rest breaks, and time spent setting up equipment.

Such class-action and individual lawsuits in the past have resulted in large settlements and jury verdicts, totaling in the billions in recent years. Unfortunately, employers continue to underpay workers for time on the job, and may be liable for paying unpaid overtime wages.

Labor Law Violations

Under no circumstance can employers expect or allow hourly employees to perform unpaid work. Workers often complain of off-the-clock duties performed, like time spent cleaning up, changing uniforms, preparing and cleaning equipment, and closing out a cash register.

Unpaid overtime is the most common reported labor violation. But when employers are reported to labor agencies and hit with unpaid wages lawsuits, it is usually discovered that the company violated several labor codes. Common violations include:

• Overtime and off-the-clock lost wages
• Minimum wage violations
• Donning and doffing violations—unpaid wages for time changing into work clothes
• Missed meals and rest breaks
• Misclassifying employees to avoid paying certain benefits
• Illegal tip pooling
• Migrant Worker Abuse
• Forced Labor & Illegal Work Placement Programs

Unpaid Wages Settlements

There is no excuse for employers who violate labor codes and cheat their workers to fill their own pockets with unpaid wages.

Any violation reported and investigated by a Cincinnati employment lawyer can lead to unpaid overtime lawsuits and settlements to recover past wages and ensure unfair practices are cut short for the benefit of all workers in the future. Some recent defendants in Wage and Hour lawsuits include:

• Menards
• Jimmy John’s
• Cincinnati Bell
• Sprint
• Metlife
• G.I. Fridays
• T-Mobile
• Walgreens

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) dictates how employers pay workers and hire and treat employees younger than 18. Workers are encouraged to keep personal time records as evidence when considering filing a lawsuit and discussing labor law with a Cincinnati employment lawyer.

Labor Trafficking Lawsuits

Labor traffickers and foreign labor recruitment agencies often take advantage of vulnerable immigrants and migrant workers. Labor recruiters, U.S. employers, contractors, and others utilize unlawful employment tactics to collect manpower from overseas, and abuse the workers in the process.

Some labor recruiters use deceptive job promotions for skilled workers, yet when the workers arrive in America, they find the position they were promised is something drastically different, and much worse than what they imagined.

Labor trafficking lawsuits have the ability to thwart illegal labor practices, and bring the biggest human trafficking perpetrators to justice, as well as compensate victims under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA).

Foreign labor recruiters usually charge high fees for job placement, and more often than not, the workers are placed under debt bondage, and forced to work their way out of debt with a very low wage, and few resources and legal counsel to assist them escape their situations.

Employers have been known to threaten their workers with future employment blacklisting, physical abuse, and financial ruin should they choose to seek jobs elsewhere or contact attorneys and law enforcement.

Pregnancy Discrimination

Pregnancy discrimination in the workplace exists more than 40 years after the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was passed by Congress, and the lives of working women are still largely interrupted by unlawful and unethical employer behavior.

Work discrimination results in economic and financial losses, as well as careers derailed and destroyed. Between 1997 and 2011, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported a 50 percent increase in the number of pregnancy discrimination claims. The number of discrimination claims hasn’t changed much since that legal report.

Fortunately, victims of pregnancy discrimination can come forward, contact a Cincinnati work discrimination lawyer and file lawsuits against a negligent employer and company.

Contact a Cincinnati employment lawyer and hostile work environment attorney to review a wide variety of workplace harassment and discrimination claims.

What is Pregnancy Discrimination?

Workplace pregnancy discrimination occurs when an employer discriminates against an employee on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related time away from work. Discrimination claims may be a result of a denial of time off or unreasonable demands from pregnant employees.

Employers may be liable for the firing or demoting of a pregnant employee, restricting a pregnant employee at work, and taking actions against an employee for a pregnancy-related medical condition.

Pregnancy discrimination is prohibited under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and can be enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Discrimination can include the following actions:

• Refusing to hire a pregnant applicant
• Terminating or demoting a pregnant employee
• Denying the same or a similar job to a pregnant employee when she returns from leave
• Treating a pregnant employee differently than other temporarily disabled employees
• Failing to grant a male employee insurance coverage for his spouse’s pregnancy related conditions if a female employee’s husband has comprehensive health insurance coverage through the same company plan

Lawsuits have been filed and large settlements have been reached following cases of workplace discrimination. Recently, Humana Inc. agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination case to a former field service coordinator.

The plaintiff was promoted three times, and reached the position of regional executive director. In 2014, she took a leave of absence  under the Family and Medical Leave Act. When she returned to work, the Humana supervisor canceled numerous appointments with her, and was later terminated wrongfully.

Uber Employment Lawsuits

Uber and Lyft have been targeted by several lawsuits in recent years for driver fatigue accidents, misclassification of employees, defective autonomous cars, and now for discriminatory hiring and illegal pay practices.

Federal labor officials are currently investigating allegations in Ohio and nationwide that Uber discriminates against women in hiring and pay. If you have experienced sexual discrimination when working with Uber or Lyft, contact an Ohio Uber Attorney to review the case.

The EEOC is examining whether Uber has intentionally and systematically paid women less than men and discriminated against women in their hiring process. Uber has faced numerous accusations of workplace sex discrimination and harassment, and management has pledged to reform the company. But high-ranking Uber officials have resigned following accusations that they improperly handled complaints of racial discrimination.

An Uber spokeswoman recently said that Uber had made changes in the past 18 months, including new salary and equity rules and a new performance-review process. Unfortunately, that may have come too late for some victims, and those affected by Uber’s faulty hiring practices may have a legal claims with a highly-rated Ohio Uber attorney.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission started investigating Uber last year, and further discrimination claims have been reported to labor authorities and lawyers. Victims of discrimination at the workplace may be able to file lawsuits and recover rightful compensation.