Cunliffe et. al v. Caroline Sandberg, Index No.:150610/22

New Action filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York County of New York

Cunliffe et. al v. Caroline Sandberg, Index No.:150610/22 

On January 20, 2022, Plaintiff Cunliffe, by and through her attorneys, BORRELLI & ASSOCIATES, P.L.L.C., as and for her Complaint against CAROLINE SANDBERG (“Defendant”), alleges upon knowledge as to herself and her own actions and upon information and belief as to all other matters, as follows:

Plaintiff worked for Defendants, a NYC based attorney, as a non-live-in nanny at Defendant’s Manhattan residence from in or around February 18, 2018, until March 6, 2020.  During the course of her employment, Defendant discriminated against Plaintiff, who is dark skinned, on the basis of her skin color, in violation of the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”), by subjecting her to disparate treatment and a hostile work environment that included, inter alia, telling Plaintiff that Plaintiff’s face “is the same color as [Defendant’s] poop,” while encouraging and permitting one of her children to make similar comments.

Further, throughout Plaintiff’s employment, but as is relevant herein, for the six-year period predating the commencement of this action, plus an additional 228 days pursuant to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s executive tolling period until the end of his employment (“the Relevant Period”), Defendants failed to pay Plaintiff the overtime wages lawfully due to him under the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) and the N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. (“NYCRR”).  Specifically, from the beginning of the Relevant Period until in or around October 2017, Defendant required Plaintiff to work more than forty hours in a week but failed to compensate Plaintiff at the statutorily required overtime rate of one and one-half times her regular rate for all the hours that she worked above forty each week.  Instead, Defendant only paid Plaintiff for up to fifteen overtime hours per week, at the lawful overtime rate, and did not pay her at all for any hours that she worked in excess of those, which occurred almost every week. Then, from in or around October 2017 through the end of the Relevant Period, Defendant continued to require Plaintiff to work more than forty hours in a week but paid her less than one and one-half times her regular rate up to fifteen overtime per week and continued to pay her noting for any hours that she worked in excess of that. Additionally, in further violation of the NYLL, Defendant failed to provide Plaintiff with any wage statements on each payday, let alone accurate ones. Furthermore, Defendant discriminated against Plaintiff, who is dark skinned, on the basis of her skin color, in violation of the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”), by subjecting her to disparate treatment and a hostile work environment that included, inter alia, telling Plaintiff that Plaintiff’s face “is the same color as [Defendant’s] poop,” while encouraging and permitting one of her sons to make similar comments.

If any individual is or has previously been an employee of the Defendants named in the lawsuit and/or has information that may be relevant to this case, please contact Borrelli & Associates, P.L.L.C. as soon as possible through one of our websites, www.employmentlawyernewyork.com or www.516abogado.com, or any of our phone numbers: (516) 248–5550, (516) ABOGADO, or (212) 679–5000.