National Employment Law Project

Litigation

A brief summary of NELP's litigation work:

NELP brings cases on behalf of low-wage and immigrant workers that span a range of issues. Among these are enforcing wage and overtime laws as well as employment contracts in state and federal court for subcontracted workers, day laborers, and other non-standard and immigrant workers. Such cases are important because they can potentially bring these workers significant money damages to which they are entitled, and because they send a strong signal to non-compliant employers in various industries that exploitation of workers is not tolerated. NELP is also litigating in the area of welfare-to-work. One class action case seeks to hold the city accountable for implementing its own transitional jobs program, which has provisions for training and a living wage and lasts for a requisite 12-months. Another case challenges the city's attempt to circumvent the wage, training, and duration requirements of its transitional jobs program by mistreating Department of Transportation workers.

Following are selected publications from NELP's litigation work:

Ansoumana et al v. Gristedes et al grocery delivery case
Ansoumana v. Gristedes, Grocery Workers' Complaint
Case seeks to hold stores and contractors jointly liable for wage underpayments to workers under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and New York State Labor Law. (November 2000)

Grocery Delivery Workers’: Plaintiffs’ Temporary Restraining Orderr
Case seeks to hold stores and contractors jointly liable for wage underpayments to workers under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and New York State Labor Law. (November 2000)

Grocery Delivery Workers' Class Certification Decision
SDNY certifies class of mostly undocumented grocery delivery workers who are alleged to be misclassified independent contractors in FLSA and state labor law case brought by NELP on behalf of nearly 1,000 workers. (May 2001)

Plaintiffs’ Memorandum Of Law In Support Of Motion For A Temporary Restraining Order
The plaintiffs in the Ansoumana et al v. Gristedes et al grocery delivery case recently won an important TRO and preliminary injunction, ordering the reinstatement with full back pay of 5 workers who had testified in support of their FLSA case. The court also prohibited the defendant from calling the INS or threatening to call the INS in retaliation for the class members' involvement in the case. (November 2001)

NELP's Amicus Brief to the US Supreme Court in Hoffman Plastic Compound
Undocumented workers are extremely vulnerable to employer retaliation when they seek to organize a union. The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether employers who retaliate are liable for back pay to undocumented victims. NELP, along with many other immigrant worker groups, submitted a brief to the Supreme Court in support of undocumented workers' rights to back pay. (December 2001)

FLSA req for Admin HARDEN v. McCLURG & ASSC
FLSA Requests for Admissions in case challenging an independent contractor classification under economic reality test. (February 1998)

Complaint and Jury Demand FLSA Compaliant
FLSA Complaint in case challenging independent contractor classification of draftsperson in structural engineering firm. (September 1997)

Plaintiff's Reply Partial Summary Judgment FLSA
FLSA Summary Judgment Brief challenging independent contractor classification of draftsperson with emphasis on 6th Circuit case law and economic reality test. (June 1998)

Workfare Workers Are Protected Against Employment Discrimination
This appellate brief, on behalf of NELP, the AFL-CIO, and eight other labor and civil rights organizations, argues that the federal protections against employment discrimination contained in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 apply to individuals who work in exchange for their welfare benefits ("workfare"). (September 2002)


advanced search »

You are here:


Publications \| Materials for Workers \| Organizing Support \| Newsroom \| Litigation \| About NELP \| Contact NELP \| Home