We are pleased that this case has been settled . We thank the attorneys who worked on this case. Once again we were able to assist in and facilitate another case that resulted in members receiving their proper OT compensation.
In Solidarity,
Anthony Wells
SSEU Local 371 President
Breaking News:
SSEU Local 371 is very pleased to announce that the overtime lawsuit filed on November 8, 2016, on behalf of 1,740 CPS, CPSS I and CPSS II employed by the Administration for Children’s Services – Jacqueline Williams, et al v. City of New York – has now reached a tentative settlement! This case involves the following claims under the federal overtime law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
•Uncompensated Pre-Shift, Post-Shift and Meal Period Work in excess of 40 hours per week
•Regular Rate and Straight Time Overtime Claims based on whether the City paid the proper overtime rate of one and half-times a worker’s regular rate of pay (including differentials) for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek
•Delayed Payment Claim due to the City’s failure to timely make overtime payments
The Williams case involves the same claims that were successfully litigated in the prior case on behalf of CPSS & CPSS Workers after 8 1/2 years of hard-fought litigation – Keisha Foster, et al v. City of New York – which settled in December 2021.
With the assistance of the Settlement Team (Jacqueline Williams, Hilary Reid and Shelly Kirshenbaum), Plaintiffs’ Counsel (Spivak Lipton LLP and McGillivary Steele Elkin LLP) just reached a settlement with the City of New York in the amount of $25,856,690 million based on the same formula applied in the Foster settlement.
The settlement is tentative in the sense that all plaintiffs will be individually notified of the settlement terms by a letter sent by the law firms this week and have the opportunity, if necessary, to correct any information. Plaintiffs should wait to receive their letter before calling with any questions as the letters will explain in great detail the settlement terms and how the settlement money is being allocated. After all plaintiffs are notified of the settlement, the settlement then needs to be approved by the Court and the City will have 90 days from the date of Court approval to pay the settlement money. We will publicize once the Court has approved the settlement and there is a due date for payment of the settlement money (which likely won’t be until early 2023).
Specifically, of the Total Settlement Amount of $25,856,690 million, the City agreed to pay $13,943,967 as back pay damages and $11,912,723 as liquidated damages, attorneys fees and expenses. There is a 30% contingency fee that is applied, after litigation expenses are deducted, to compensate the law firms for the work they have performed in this case. Individual settlement amounts vary based on length of active employment during the recovery period (i.e., excluding any leaves of absence) and the date the plaintiff joined the case by submitting a consent form (for ex., the earliest recovery period begins on November 8, 2013 if a plaintiff joined the case in November 2016). Note that the law only allows plaintiffs to recover damages for a maximum of three years prior to the date that a plaintiff’s consent form was filed in Court regardless of their overall length of employment. This will be explained in each individual plaintiff’s settlement letter.
PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU ARE ONLY A PLAINTIFF IN THIS CASE IF YOU SIGNED A CONSENT FORM AND RECEIVED A LETTER FROM THE LAW FIRMS, SPIVAK LIPTON LLP AND MCGILLIVARY STEELE ELKIN LLP CONFIRMING THAT YOU ARE A PLAINTIFF.
If you are a plaintiff in the case, and if you have any questions after you receive your settlement letter (by November 1st), you should directly contact the law firms handling the case:
Spivak Lipton LLP: 212.765.2100 ext. 26 or via email at nlandig@spivaklipton.com
McGillivary Steele Elkin: 202.833.8855 or via email at info@mselaborlaw.com
