Roman v. Jasco Plumbing & Heating Supply, Inc., and Jeffrey Bass, individually, and Matthew Bass, individually, Case No.: 21-cv-4030-GHW

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

Roman v. Jasco Plumbing & Heating Supply, Inc., and Jeffrey Bass, individually, and Matthew Bass, individually, Case No.: 21-cv-4030-GHW 

As previously reported on this website, in Roman v. Jasco Plumbing & Heating Supply, Inc., and Jeffrey Bass, individually, and Matthew Bass, individually, Civil Case Number:21-cv-4030, on May 21, 2021, Lead Plaintiff, Mr. Roman, on behalf of himself, 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 JASCO PLUMBING & HEATING SUPPLY, INC. (“Jasco”), and JEFFREY BASS, individually, and MATTHEW BASS, individually, (collectively, where appropriate, as “Defendants”), alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”), and the New York Comp. Codes, Rules, and Regulations (“NYCCRR”), including the failure of Defendants to compensate Plaintiff for overtime wages.  The claims of the case are referenced in our May 2021 blog post and are reviewed as follows:

• Plaintiff worked for Defendants – – a New York corporation that operates a Bronx-based plumbing and heating supplies business and its day-to-day overseers – – as a salesperson from March 2016 until March 2020;
• Throughout his employment, Defendants willfully failed to pay Plaintiff the overtime wages lawfully due to him under the FLSA and the NYLL;
• Specifically, Defendants required Plaintiff, and Plaintiff did work, in excess of forty hours virtually each week, but Defendants failed to compensate Plaintiff at the rate of one and one-half times his regular rate of pay for any hours that Plaintiff worked in excess of forty in a week;
• Instead, Defendants paid Plaintiff a flat weekly salary that Plaintiff and Defendants expressly agreed, at the time of Plaintiff’s hire, was meant to compensate Plaintiff for only his first forty hours of work each week, and thus Defendants failed to compensate Plaintiff at any rate of pay, let alone at the statutorily-required rate of one and one-half times his regular hourly rate for any hours that Plaintiff worked in excess of forty in a week, in violation of the FLSA and the NYLL;

• Defendants paid and treated all their non-managerial salespeople in the same manner.
  

Defendant violated Plaintiff’s rights guaranteed to him by the overtime provisions of the FLSA, the NYLL and the NYCCRR.  Furthermore, also in violation of the NYLL, Defendants failed to provide Plaintiff with accurate wage statements on each payday or provide Plaintiff with any wage notice at the time of his hire.

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 February 16, 2022, 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 July 29, 2018 – 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 any of our phone numbers: (516) 248-5550, (516) ABOGADO, and (212) 679-5000.

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