A class-action lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in the Eastern District of New York against NYC Health and Hospital Corporation (NYCHHC) by one of their employees, Salena Greene. She is demanding a trial by jury regarding her claims that her employer violated both Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provisions as well as New York State Labor Law (NYLL) provisions.
Greene is seeking injunctive and declaratory relief, unpaid overtime wages, spread of hours pay, liquidated and statutory damages, pre- and post-judgement interest, and attorney’s fees.
The plaintiff is employed by NYCHHC as a security person and non-managerial manual worker at their hospitals, Woodhull Hospital and Cumberland Hospital. NYCHHC was and is a covered employer under the terms of the FLSA and the NYLL. NYCHHC “had the power to hire and fire Plaintiff, control the terms and conditions of employment, and determine the rate and method of any compensation,” the filing said.
Greene was compensated at a rate of $17 per hour from December 14, 2020, until May 21, 2020. Throughout this time period, she would regularly work overtime, consistently logging 60 hour weeks. Despite her frequent overtime work and logging hours which exceeded a normal spread-of-hours, the Plaintiff never was compensated an overtime or spread-of-hours premium for the excess hours she had worked. The defendant also failed to provide the plaintiff with a statement of wages, which is required under the NYLL.
The complaint cited FLSA and NYLL violations due to unpaid overtime wages, incorrect spread-of-hours pay, failure to provide wage notice, violation of wage statement provisions, and failure to pay timely wages. As a result of these violations, Greene is seeking class certification, a declaration of the FLSA and NYLL violations, awards of the unpaid wages, liquidated damages, statutory damages, pre- and post-judgement interest, attorney’s fees, and any other relief deemed proper by the Court.
The plaintiff is represented by Levin-Epstein.
