Mako v. Linda Richards Inc. et al.; Case No.: 19-cv-02660-CS

Judge grants Conditional Certification of Collective Action in the Southern District of New York

Mako v. Linda Richards Inc. et al.; Case No.: 19-cv-02660-CS

On October 18, 2019, Ms. Mako, on behalf of herself, individually, and on behalf of all others similarly-situated, filed a collective action lawsuit in the United States District Court Southern District of New York against LINDA RICHARDS INC., (“Linda Richards”), and LINDA BARRY, also known as LINDA BRETTI, individually (hereinafter referred to as “Barry”), and FRANK BRETTI, individually (“Bretti”), (collectively, where appropriate, as “Defendants”), alleging deliberating violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) and the New York Comp. Codes, Rules, and Regulations, including the failure of Defendants to compensate Plaintiffs for overtime wages. The claims of the case are referenced in our December 2019 blog post and are reviewed as follows:

• Defendant Linda Richards is a New York corporation which operates a women’s clothing boutique in Westchester.
• Defendants Barry and Bretti run the business together, on a daily basis.
• On October 4, 2018, Defendant Bretti, on behalf of Defendants, hired Plaintiff to work for Defendants as an “Office Logistics Coordinator.” Plaintiff worked for Defendants in that role from October 22, 2018 until December 7, 2018.
• As an “Office Logistics Coordinator,” Plaintiff’s primary duties consisted of processing accounts receivable, production orders, and returns for customers, many of whom resided out-of-state. Plaintiff performed these tasks for Defendants at their office located in Port Chester, New York.
• Throughout her employment, Defendants required Plaintiff to work, and Plaintiff did work, five days per week, from as early as 8:00 or 8:30 a.m. to as late as 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. each day, without an uninterrupted break period, for a total of between fifty and fifty-five hours per week.
• Throughout her employment, Defendants paid Plaintiff a fixed weekly salary of $865.38, regardless of the amount of hours that Plaintiff worked in a week.

As described below, throughout Plaintiff’s employment, Defendants intentionally failed to pay Plaintiff overtime wages for her hours worked in a week over forty in violation of the FLSA and the NYLL. Specifically, despite Plaintiff working in excess of forty hours per week, Defendants paid Plaintiff a weekly salary, which was intended to cover only the first forty hours that she worked per week, and thus failed to compensate Plaintiff at any rate of pay, let alone at the statutorily-required overtime rate for any hours that she worked per week in excess of forty.

Certification of Collective Action

In this case, pursuant to the request of the Plaintiff, the Judge reviewed claims that the Plaintiff brought forward alleging that there are additional workers in the same “class” (performing the same or similar duties) whose rights have been violated. On January 23, 2020, Plaintiffs’ motion for approval of a collection action was granted, allowing the case to proceed as a collective action enabling any current and former employees who were not paid properly to join the lawsuit and seek redress for Defendants’ failure to compensate them in accordance with the law.

If you or a person you know worked for the Defendants named in the lawsuit during the time period of March 25, 2016 – present or has information that may be relevant to this case, contact Borrelli & Associates, P.L.L.C. as soon as possible through one of our websites, www.employmentlawyernewyork.com, www.516abogado.com or by phones: (516) 248-5550, (516) ABOGADO, and (212) 679-5000.

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