40 people in a room doing entry-level jobs for free According to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, internships at for-profit companies can be unpaid if the internship is “for the benefit of the intern” and “similar to training which would be given in an educational environment.” But some rece...

Hair Color Deemed Improper for An African-American Woman Farryn Johnson, an African-American 25-year-old Hooters waitress, alleges she was let go because of her blonde highlights, even thought white waitresses are allowed to color their hair at the chain restaurant. In the racial discrimination c...

McDonald's shaved hours off of employees' time cards In the latest of unpaid overtime lawsuits popping up nationwide, one of the most recent is recently filed class action lawsuit alleging that McDonald's is tampering with shift records in an effort to cut costs. Allegedly more than 12 McDonald's...

Wage protections for nearly two million home care workers The Obama administration recently announced that home care aides would be covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act, thus extending minimum wage and overtime protections to the nation's nearly two million home care workers who care for th...

“Wage and Hour” Lawsuits According to a recent analysis of data by the Federal Judicial Center, “wage and hour” lawsuits in which workers are taking their employers to court over unfair pay have skyrocketed 432 percent in the past twenty years. The research (conducted by the law firm Sayfarth and...

The bank's “unfair and inconsistent selection criteria” led to the rejection of qualified black candidates The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that Bank of America Corp, the second-largest bank in the U.S., was ordered to pay $2.18 million to 1,147 black job applicants for alleged racial di...

Fired employee had led fellow workers in a walk out Carlos Hernandez, a 21-year-old community college student was fired from his job at a Subway sandwich shop franchise because, according to the owner of the franchise, Hasan Zeer, he gave a 66-cent cookie to a child for free. Hernandez suspects h...

Claims of illegally low pay Jose Luis Ormeno, a former kitchen worker at pizza chain Manny & Olga's has filed a lawsuit that accuses his employer of wage theft. Ormeno is claiming long hours and illegally low pay while working at the late-night takeout chain. The suit, filed in federal court, all...

The EEOC has accused two corporations that operate a chain of Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants: Scottish Food Systems, Inc. and Laurinburg KFC Take Home, Inc., of violating federal law by failing to accommodate an employee's religious beliefs and firing her because of her religion. According to...

Production manager fired for hiring recommendation According to a federal lawsuit, Myrna Peltonen, a production manager lost her job at Izza Bending Tube & Wire, a small industrial company for defending her recommendation that a temporary black worker be permanently hired after logging 500 hours ...

Council on American-Islamic Relations blames finance manager The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has accused Rizza Cadillac Inc. of violating federal law by allegedly encouraging a work environment that was hostile and offensive to Muslim and Arab sales employees Medhat Adawy, his so...

Since the 1970's Alex Dana's Rosebud restaurants have been comfortable places for diners seeking hearty Italian entrees. The company operates 10 sites in the Chicago area and employs more than 900 people. But allegedly, according to a recently filed federal lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportu...

Social Media in the Spotlight Again The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued another social media decision, finding that a Maryland ambulance company violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). An employee of the ambulance company posted a social media note on her Facebook wall ...

Seven people killed in rigging collapse A settlement has been reached for a stagehands union that was fined $11,500 when seven people were killed during a Sugarland performance at the Indiana State Fair when the stage rigging collapsed onto the crowd on August 23, 2011. In compliance with the agr...

Former employee claimed she was fired for wearing a hijab Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) has lost a civil rights lawsuit filed on behalf of a former employee who said she was fired for wearing a head scarf, also known as a hijab. In late 2009, Umme-Hani Khan, then 19, started working at a Bay Area Hol...

Another form of wages In California, vacation pay is considered to be another form of wages. Because they are considered wages, they cannot be taken away from an employee by any “use it or lose it” policy. However, California does not require that an employer provide its employees with either pai...

Could mark a huge step forward for domestic worker rights The California State Legislature has approved a bill, “AB-241,” also dubbed the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, that could mark a huge step forward for domestic worker rights in the state and could make California the second state in the n...

So-called payroll cards used in lieu of traditional pay methods The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued a bulletin as a result of recent complaints it has received from workers regarding receiving their pay on debit cards, or so-called payroll cards. According to a 2011 survey ...

Suspended for a Prior Relationship Former Texas women's track and field coach Bev Kearney, who alleged discrimination based on gender, race and retaliation in an official charge last spring, has not yet filed a lawsuit against the university but likely will within the next month. Coach Kearney wo...

Workers Were Not Paid Pevailing Wages 2,051 construction workers, who were employed by Hensel Phelps Construction Company and 172 subcontractors, will now finally receive the wages they are owed for working on the 1,190-room Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel from 2006 to 2008. California Labor Comm...

Available throughout each hour of the day A onetime roommate and friend of Lady Gaga (listed in the litigation under her birth name – Stefani Germanotta) is claiming that she was cheated out of her overtime wages after serving as the pop star's personal assistant for more than a year. The judge, ...

Health professionals and public health officials promote breastfeeding to improve infant health. Breast milk contains antibodies that protect infants from bacteria and viruses. Breastfed children have fewer ear, respiratory and urinary tract infections and have diarrhea less often. Breastfeeding ...

According to multiple reports Tori Christina Jenkins, a black waitress at a Red Lobster in Franklin, Tenn., was allegedly left a racist message via a receipt after serving two customers. Rather than leaving a gratuity the customer apparently wrote, “None n**ger” in the tip section. Jenkins posted...

Violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants have paid nearly $545,000 in back wages and damages to 74 clubhouse and administrative employees for violations of minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping laws after the Department of Labor investigated the ...

Still waiting for his back pay A year ago, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordered Latino Express to reinstate driver Pedro Salgado with back pay and benefits after he was fired for trying to organize drivers at the Chicago-based bus company. Salgado, who was unemployed for about a year...