Boone and Clarke v. Alpha Corporate Transportation and Taxi Service Inc. d/b/a Alpha Taxi Et Al. Civil Case No.: 19-cv-02808-CS

New Class and Collective Employment Law Action filed in the Southern District of New York

Boone and Clarke v. Alpha Corporate Transportation and Taxi Service Inc. d/b/a Alpha Taxi, and Edward Samraldi, individually, Civil Case No.: 19-cv-02808-CS

On March 28, 2019, Plaintiffs Boone and Clarke, on behalf of themselves, individually, and on behalf of all others similarly-situated, filed a collective action lawsuit in the United States District Court Southern District of New York against ALPHA CORPORATE TRANSPORTATION AND TAXI SERVICE INC. d/b/a ALPHA TAXI (“Alpha”), and EDWARD SAMRALDI (“Samraldi”), individually, (together, where appropriate, as “Defendants”), alleging upon knowledge as to themselves and their own actions and upon information and belief as to all other matters as follows:

Plaintiff Boone worked for Defendants – – a Dutchess County taxi company and its President – – as an assistant dispatcher from on or around January 26, 2013 until December 18, 2017, while Plaintiff Clarke worked for Defendants first as a taxicab driver in 2012 and early-January 2013, and then as a dispatcher from on or around January 21, 2013 until February 11, 2018. As described below, from at least March 2013 and continuing until in or around December 2017, Defendants intentionally failed to pay Plaintiffs overtime wages for their hours worked in a week over forty in violation of the Fair Labor Standard Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). Specifically, despite Plaintiffs working in excess of forty hours per week, Defendants paid Plaintiffs at their regular rates of pay for all hours worked, including those hours worked in excess of forty. Furthermore, from at least March 2013 to April 13, 2014 and then again from December 31, 2014 to December 18, 2017 with respect to Plaintiff Boone, and from at least March 2013 until the end of his employment with respect to Plaintiff Clarke, Defendants failed to compensate Plaintiffs at least at the statutorily-required minimum wage rate for all hours that they worked each week under the NYLL. Additionally, also in violation of the NYLL, Defendants failed to provide Plaintiffs with any wage statements on each payday, let alone accurate ones, throughout their respective employments. Furthermore, throughout 2016 and 2017, Defendant Alpha, through the actions of dispatcher and later its General Manager, Kenneth Faust (“Faust”), sexually harassed Plaintiff Boone several times per month in that Faust made sexually-suggestive comments towards her, in violation of the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”). Plaintiff Boone complained repeatedly to Defendant Samraldi about Faust’s behavior, but it failed to cease. After Plaintiff Clarke, who is Boone’s significant other, complained to Samraldi about Faust sexually harassing Boone, Samraldi retaliated against Clarke, also in violation of the NYSHRL, by eliminating one day per week from his schedule beginning in January 2018, until he was effectively terminated on February 11, 2018.

Defendants willfully failed to pay Plaintiffs the wages lawfully due to them under the FLSA and the NYLL. Specifically, Defendants paid Plaintiffs at their regular rates of pay for all hours worked, including those hours worked in excess of forty. Furthermore, from at least March 2013 to April 13, 2014 and then again from December 31, 2014 to December 18, 2017 with respect to Plaintiff Boone, and from at least March 2013 until the end of his employment with respect to Plaintiff Clarke, Defendants failed to compensate Plaintiffs at least at the statutorily-required minimum wage rate for all hours that they worked each week under the NYLL. Furthermore, from at least March 2016 to in or around October 2016, Defendants failed to pay Plaintiff Clarke at least at the statutorily-required minimum wage rate for all hours that he worked each week under the FLSA, and also failed to pay Plaintiff Clarke one hour’s pay at the minimum wage rate for each day when his shift exceeded ten hours from start to finish under the NYLL and the NYCRR.

Defendants paid and treated all their hourly employees in the same manner. Accordingly, Plaintiffs brought this lawsuit against Defendants pursuant to the collective action provisions of the FLSA, on behalf of themselves and on behalf of all others similarly-situated who suffered damages because of Defendants’ willful violations of the law.

If any individual is or has previously been an employee of the Defendants named in the lawsuit and/or has information that may be relevant to this case, please contact Borrelli & Associates, P.L.L.C. as soon as possible via our website, or any of phone: (516) 248–5550, (516) ABOGADO, or (212) 679–5000.