Second Circuit sustains FLSA verdict

The Court of Appeals has sustained a bench verdict in favor of FLSA wage-and-hour plaintiffs who claimed their employer denied them proper wages and then retaliated against them after they objected to this illegal treatment.

The case is Vazquez v. 142 Knickerbocker Enterprises, a summary order issued on July 8. I assisted in briefing the appeal. The case was brought by Catholic Migration Services and Main Street Legal Services, operated by CUNY Law School, my almer mater. 

The plaintiffs worked at a car wash in Queens. On the wages claim, the Court says, "During the relevant period—November 2007 through April 2014—the applicable minimum wage was $7.15 per hour. See NYLL § 652(1). On July 24, 2009, the minimum wage increased to $7.25 per hour. On December 31, 2013, it increased to $8.00 per hour. State law requires employers to pay employees one-and-one-half times the regular hourly rate for all hours exceeding 40 per week. The evidence at trial supported the conclusion of the district court that [defendant] Azoulay regularly underpaid the plaintiffs."

Plaintiffs proved their case in part through their own testimony, since Defendants' payroll records were incomplete. While management is required to maintain good records, when they don't the trial courts can look elsewhere to prove the plaintiff's earnings. The Court (Lynch, Menashi and Rakoff [D.J.]) further found that management appropriated the plaintiffs' tips. We call that tip-stealing.

We also have a retaliation claim, not uncommon in FLSA and State Labor Law claims. After the plaintiffs brought this lawsuit, Azoulay "wrote to the court indicating that he had reported the plaintiffs to the IRS, the [Social Security Administration], the FBI, and the New York Attorney General’s office for criminal violations. On appeal, Azoulay argues that his actions were not retaliatory but a 'reasonable attempt to meet legal obligations during litigation.'" You read that correctly, the defendant admitted this retaliation to the court, While defendant tried to explain away his actions, the trial court was not obligated to accept that defense, and the trial court's findings on whether defendants' actions were retaliatory will not be upset on appeal unless that finding is completely off-the-wall. Since federal judges issue rulings that usually find support in the record or resolve disputed factual inferences, the retaliation verdict is sustained.