Claim for Unpaid Wages Seeks Denied Overtime for Transit Workers

A claim for unpaid wages was filed against MTA New York City Transit, from a claimant alleging the authority regularly denied him overtime and did not compensate him or other employees for missing overtime.

The New York man is filing this claim for unpaid wages on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, alleging various violations of state and federal labor laws.

Plaintiff Frederick B. is filing this claim for unpaid wages, alleging the company failed to sufficiently compensate him during his work as an Administrative Staff Analyst. This job title is classified as a non-managerial position, which means that Frederick was not exempt from minimum wage benefits guaranteed under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Generally, employees can only be classified as exempt from overtime benefits if they make over $23,600 per year or $455 per week. Employees who have managerial status or authority over other employees, such as the power to fire or hire other employees, are usually not eligible for overtime benefits.

According to the class action wage and hour lawsuit, Frederick was fully employed in his position for at least the last three years. During these three years, Frederick had performed a number of occupational duties including meeting with employees to gather information about their job duties, and completing paperwork about meetings.

Frederick had also prepared examination notices of civil service jobs, ensuring that all paperwork was accurately corrected, as well as editing the exams for civil service jobs.

Frederick claims that he and other employees were regularly forced to work over 12 hours in a single workday, and sometimes on Saturdays six or seven times a year. During these long weeks with Saturday shifts, Frederick says he and other employees worked a minimum of 47 hours per week. However, even though Frederick and other employees worked over 40 hours a week and more than the hourly wage limit of eight hours a day, the company allegedly failed to pay them overtime.

Overview of Federal and New York Minimum Wage Laws

Under the FLSA, non exempt employees are guaranteed a minimum wage rate of $7.25 per hour and one and a half times their hourly rate if they reach overtime hours. It is considered overtime if the employee works over 40 hours a week or over eight hours in a single work day; once surpassed, the worker becomes eligible for overtime pay.

The New York state minimum wage rate varies between companies, depending on the number of employees they have on their payroll. For companies with 10 or fewer employees the minimum wage rate is $12 per hour, with the hourly rate increasing to $13 in businesses with 11 or more employees.

However the requirement of providing recompense to employees who work overtime is the same, regardless of the company’s size. In Frederick’s claim for unpaid wages, MTA New York City Transit had violated the state and federal wage laws that required the company to compensate their workers for all hours.

Frederick is filing this claim for unpaid wages on behalf of himself and other employees, and is seeking compensation for all missing overtime and any other relevant interest.

This Unpaid Wages Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-00846, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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