NY State Court Allows $17.96 Minimum Wage for App-Based Food Delivery Workers to Go Forward – First Law of Its Kind In U.S. – Denying Motion for Preliminary Injunction By Uber, DoorDash and Grubhub
Last week, a New York State Court rejected a motion by Uber, DoorDash and Grubhub for a preliminary injunction to stop a minimum wage of $17.96 from taking effect for those companies' app-based food delivery workers in NYC. This minimum wage was previously set to take effect on July 12, 2023 and is scheduled to rise by $1 per year, up to $19.96, ...
New York Enacts New Criminal Penalties for Wage Theft
Despite a range of civil penalties in New York, employers continue to engage in widespread wage theft of employee's earned wages amounting to, according to one estimate by Cornell University's Worker Institute, nearly $1 billion dollars in lost wages per year. New York's Wage Theft Accountability Act (S2832-A/A154-A), signed by Governor Kathy ...
NLRB Issues Decision Clarifying Employee-Employer Test
In June 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (the "Board") issued a decision clarifying the test used to determine whether a worker is an employee under the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA") or an independent contractor. The decision is significant because the NLRA provides employees (not independent contractors) with important protections, ...
The Rush to Wield Ripple Labs: Coinbase’s Argument that their Digital Tokens are Not Securities
The SEC continues to push its position that certain digital assets should be treated as securities that are subject to SEC rules and regulations. The inquiry to determine if the structure of the economic arrangement should be treated as "security" is fact intensive because it amounts to an "investment contract." While there is no Act of Congress ...
Second Circuit Holds Whether Employer Knows Employee Is Not Being Paid Is Irrelevant To FLSA Liability
On August 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that whether an employer knows an employee is not being paid is irrelevant to liability under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") in Perry v. City of New York. Rejecting the City of New York's argument that they cannot be held liable because they offered workers an ...
Second Circuit Affirms Multi-Million Dollar Verdict for NYC EMTs Who Inspected PPE and Gear Before Shifts
On August 25, 2023, the Second Circuit upheld a $17,780,063 jury verdict in favor of 2,519 EMTs and paramedics who sued the City of New York for overtime, alleging that the City required them to perform work before and after their shifts without compensation. Before clocking in and responding to calls, EMTs and paramedics were required to ...
Seventh Circuit Affirms $5.2 Million Judgment Against Credit-Monitoring Business for Deceptive Advertising
On August 30, 2023, the Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court decision reinstating the a $5.2 million judgment against Credit Bureau Center and its owner ("CBC") for their deceptive online advertising. The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") initiated this lawsuit against CBC in 2017 for the company's use of an online marketing device known ...
U.S. Department of Labor Proposes New Rule to Increase Overtime Salary Threshold
On August 30, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed rule that increases the salary threshold under which employees are eligible for overtime pay under federal law. Currently, employees who earn less than $35,568 per year or $684 per week must be paid overtime, or one and one-half times the employee's regular rate of pay for ...
CLASS CERTIFICATION DENIED FOR CLASS OF PURCHASERS OF UNSPONSORED ADRs
On January 25, 2022, Judge Dean Pregerson of the Central District of California issued a decision denying class certification in the case Stoyas v. Toshiba, 2:15-cv-04194-DDP-JC, 2022 WL 220920 (C.D. Cal. Jan. 25, 2022). The decision hinged on whether the plaintiffs had purchased Toshiba securities in the United States, and thus satisfied ...
Courts Are Grappling With The Application Of The Supreme Court’s Howey Decision to Digital Currency
As the SEC and private investors continue to push on with civil litigation under the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act") and the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") against developers and marketers of digital assets, the courts must rule on a threshold issue – whether the digital asset is a "security" that is subject ...
Wayfair or WayUnfair? Customer Service Reps Sue For Unpaid Wages Booting Up Computer Programs
Customer service representatives may be entitled to compensation for time spent logging into and out of computer programs and apps before their shifts. For example, a recent lawsuit against Wayfair alleges that its customer service representatives ("CSRs") spend an average of 10-15 minutes before each shift: "turning on and logging into…computers; ...
Senate Moves to Mandate AM Radio in Attempt to Ensure National Emergency Alert System's Efficacy
Over a quarter of the United States Senate moved to co-sponsor a bill that would preclude auto manufacturers from removing AM radios from their vehicles. The bill, the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, is being framed as an important public necessity which allows the government to reach the public in cases of natural disaster or national emergency. ...
New York May Ban Non-compete Agreements
New York State appears poised to enact a law banning non-compete agreements. Specifically, on June 20, 2023, the New York Assembly passed a bill that would amend the New York Labor Law ("NYLL") to add section 191-d, prohibiting non-compete agreements and authorizing covered individuals to bring civil actions against those who allegedly violated ...
FTC Proposes New Rule Banning Fake Reviews
The Federal Trade Commission has announced a new proposed rule which would prohibit specific deceptive marketing tactics involving consumer reviews or testimonials. For example, the proposed rule would prohibit the following: - Fake Reviews: Businesses would be prohibited from writing, creating, or selling a consumer review that is fake or ...
CA Supremes to Review Independent Contractor Initiative Challenged by App-Based Drivers
The California Supreme Court announced that it would review the constitutionality of Proposition 22, a provision approved by voters in November of 2020 which created exceptions for specific app-based workers such as Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash drivers from the State's elevated bar for classifying workers as independent contractors. The Proposition ...
SEC Settles Insider Trading Charges Regarding Crypto Asset Securities with Former Coinbase Manager Ishan Wahi and Nikhil Wahi
Last month, the SEC announced in a press release that it had entered into an agreement with Coinbase manager Ishan Wahi and his brother, Nikhil Wahi, "to settle charges that they engaged in insider trading through a scheme to trade ahead of multiple announcements regarding at least nine crypto asset securities that would be made available ...
SEC Charges Coinbase, A Crypto Asset Trading Platform, As An Unregistered Securities Exchange, Broker, and Clearing Agency
On June 6, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") charged Coinbase, Inc., the country's largest crypto trading platform, with operating as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency. According to the SEC, Coinbase has made billions since at least 2019 by facilitating the purchase and sale of ...
NYC Increases App-Based Food Delivery Workers’ Minimum Wage to $17.96 Per Hour
Starting on July 12, 2023, over 60,000 food delivery workers employed by apps such as Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub in New York City must be paid at least $17.96 per hour, not including tips. As of April 2025, the mandatory hourly pay will increase to $19.96 per hour. New York City will allow the food delivery apps to use their discretion ...
New York City Enacts Law Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Weight and Height
On May 26, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams signed a bill into law expanding the list of characteristics that are protected under New York City's discrimination laws to include a person's weight and height. Weight and height now join 27 other characteristics including, race, gender, age, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, national ...
Georgia Lawyers seek Class Certification in Racial Bias in Attorney Discipline Suit
A group of Georgia lawyers, led my Marsha W. Mignott, seek class certification in their attempt to establish a unlawful pattern of discriminatory conduct toward African American attorneys under the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and 42 U.S.C. 1981 in what they are describing as an "apartheid disciplinary process." Mignott is currently appealing ...