Articles Tagged with employment lawyer long island

Matthew Weinick is a Long Island employment lawyer and a founding partner of the Long Island employment law firm of Famighetti & Weinick, PLLC.  Today’s employment law blog highlights Matt’s work and experience in the field of employment law.

Matt graduated cum laude from Hofstra Law School.  While at Hofstra, Matt served as notes and comments editor of the Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal, which also published his article about workers’ rights.  Matt interned for United States District Judge Denis R. Hurley while in law school.

After graduating from law school, Matt worked for the Nassau County Attorney’s Office where he was assigned to the General Litigation Bureau, handling employment law matters as well as “Constitutional torts” in which Matt defended Nassau County employees such as police officers and corrections officers, in lawsuits alleging violations of citizens’ Constitutional rights.  Among the high profile cases Matt worked on was a lawsuit alleging the police department’s use of mounted police was unconstitutional and another case alleging Nassau County’s decision to post pictures of individuals arrested for DWI was unconstitutional.

Are teachers in educational settings other than primary schools, secondary schools, or colleges entitled to receive minimum wage for out-of-classroom work and/or overtime pay when their classroom and out-of-classroom work exceed forty hours per week? New York’s highest federal court recently said “NO!”

The following facts are taken from Fernandez v. Zoni Language Ctrs., Inc. decided by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on May 26, 2017.

The plaintiffs were English Language instructors at a private, for-profit institution offering English classes to adult students. The teachers argued that their employer, Zoni Centers, was required to pay them minimum wage for hours worked outside of the classroom, such as when preparing for class and grading work, and overtime hours when their classroom and out-of-classroom work exceeded forty hours per week. The District Court held that although employers are generally required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) to pay employees minimum wage and overtime, teachers are considered bona fide professionals exempt from these FLSA requirements. Thus, Zoni Centers was not required to abide by the general FLSA requirements.

The New York State Human Rights Law and New York Corrections Law prohibit employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of the employee’s prior criminal conviction status.  In August 2016, New York’s federal appellate court was faced with three questions arising from a criminal conviction discrimination case.  The federal court asked New York’s highest court for help in deciding the issues.  On May 4, 2017, New York’s Court of Appeals issued a decision discussing who can be liable for criminal conviction discrimination in New York.

The facts below are taken from the cases Griffin v. Sirva, Inc. decided by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and the New York Court of Appeals.

Griffin v. Sirva

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