Ann Groninger Wins in Fourth Circuit for Underpaid Workers
In Simmons v. United Mortgage and Loan Investment, LLC, the Fourth Circuit ruled for plaintiffs and reversed the district court in this wage and hour case. The plaintiffs are Charlotte-based Junior Asset Managers for a mortgage company who were not paid overtime even though they worked more than 40 hours per week. They brought claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and North Carolina Wage and Hour Act (NCWHA) based on the failure to pay overtime. The primary issue is whether the plaintiffs will be able to pursue their case as a collective and class action on behalf the other...
Read MoreMagistrate Judge Concludes that Smithfield Wage and Hour Collective Action Should Proceed
In this case, plaintiffs are bringing collective action claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) based on the under-payment of wages and overtime at Smithfield Packing’s Tar Heel, North Carolina meat processing facility. Magistrate Judge Gates issued an opinion last week recommending that defendant’s motion to decertify the FLSA collective action be denied. If his recommendation is approved by the district judge, the case will proceed to trial as a collective action. The plaintiffs are represented by several lawyers, including Ann Groninger. Continue for details from...
Read MoreGovernment Enforcing Child Labor and Wage Laws for Farmworkers in North Carolina
The New York Times has this article about the Obama Administration’s effort to enforce the child labor and wage and hour laws on farms, and describes the effort in North Carolina in particular. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) contains several exceptions for farmworkers, but sometimes-ignored restrictions of child labor are apparently now being more vigorously enforced.
Read MoreNinth Circuit Rejects Tip-Pooling Claims of Servers Making More than Minimum Wage Before Tips
In a case that appears to one of first impression at the federal appellate level, the Ninth Circuit ruled in Cumbie v. Woody Woo, Inc., that there are no tip-pooling claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for restaurant employees who are paid more than the minimum wage before tips. FLSA, the federal wage and hour law, regulates how tips can be distributed and/or shared as part of its regulation of the minimum wage. As restaurants commonly do, servers can be paid a small base amount and make the rest of their wages in tips. Properly arranged, the tips paid to the servers are a...
Read MoreReply Brief Filed for Simmons Appeal in Fourth Circuit
In Simmons v. United Mortgage and Loan Investment, LLC, we have filed this reply brief with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in this wage and hour case. See here for a summary of the case. Ann Groninger along with Burton Craige and Narendra Ghosh of Patterson Harkavy LLP are representing the plaintiffs, who are seeking to remedy the company’s failure to pay overtime to themselves and other Junior Asset Managers. Here is a summary of our argument to the Court: “From the beginning, the named plaintiffs in this case have sought to recover rightly-earned wages and overtime...
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