Aguilar v. Advanced Mepf Services Corp., et al.; Case No.: 1:19-cv-05014-RPK-JO

Judge grants Conditional Certification of Collective Action in the Eastern District of New York

Aguilar v. Advanced Mepf Services Corp., et al.; Case No.: 1:19-cv-05014-RPK-JO

On September 3, 2019, Mr. Aguilar, on behalf of himself, individually, and on behalf of all others similarly-situated, filed a collective action lawsuit in the United States District Court Eastern District of New York against ADVANCED MEPF SERVICES CORP., PROJECT STRATEGIX, LLC, CROSS ISLAND MECHANICAL MANAGEMENT CORPORATION (collectively with Advanced and Strategix, where appropriate, as “the Corporations”), DAVID CERQUEIRA (“Cerqueira”), individually, and KRISTOPHER SHAW (“Shaw”), individually, (all, collectively, as “Defendants”), alleging debilitating violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) and the New York Comp. Codes, Rules, and Regulations, including the failure of Defendants to compensate Plaintiff for all overtime wages. The claims of the case are reviewed as follows:

• The Corporations are three companies that have operated and continue to operate as a single enterprise in the business of plumbing and electrical repair and installation in Ridgewood, New York.
• From in or around the summer of 2016 to the present, Defendant Shaw, along with Defendant Cerqueira until in or around May 2018, was and remains an owner and day-to-day overseer of the Corporations.
• Plaintiff worked for Defendants as a plumber from in or around the end of 1999 until August 14, 2018.
• Plaintiff’s primary duties consisted of general water and waste system maintenance, repair, and installation.
• During the relevant period, Defendants scheduled and required Plaintiff to work, and Plaintiff did generally work, six to seven days per week. Accordingly, Plaintiff worked a total of either seventy-five or eighty-seven and one-half hours per week.
• In exchange for his work, throughout the relevant period, Defendants paid Plaintiff at different regular rates of pay and differently with respect to his hours worked over forty in a week depending on which of the Corporations was compensating him for his work that week. Plaintiff received either $12.50 per hour for his first forty hours only and nothing for any of the hours that he worked in excess of forty in a week; or $35.00 per hour for the first forty hours that he worked in a week, and paid one and one-half times his regular rate for typically between two and ten of the those hours that he worked in excess of forty, and nothing at all for the remaining hours he worked in excess of forty.

As described below, Defendants willfully failed to pay Plaintiff for all the overtime wages lawfully due to him under the FLSA and the NYLL. Specifically, throughout the relevant period, Defendants required Plaintiff to work over forty hours per week at Defendants’ various job sites, but failed to compensate him at the statutorily required overtime rate of one and one-half times his regular rate of pay for all hours that he worked each week in excess of forty. Additionally, Defendants violated the NYLL by failing to provide Plaintiff with accurate wage statements on each payday.

Certification of Collective Action

In this case, the Judge reviewed claims that the Plaintiff brought forward alleging that there are additional workers in the same “class” (performing the same or similar duties) whose rights have been violated. On January 23, 2020, the motion for approval of a collective action was granted, allowing the case to proceed as a collective action enabling any current and former employees who were not paid properly to join the lawsuit and seek redress for Defendants’ failure to compensate them in accordance with the law.

If you or a person you know worked for the Defendants named in the lawsuit during the time period of September 3, 2013 and the present or has information that may be relevant to this case, contact Employment lawyers, Borrelli & Associates, P.L.L.C. as soon as possible through one of our websites, www.employmentlawyernewyork.com, www.516abogado.com or by phone: (516) 248-5550, (516) ABOGADO, and (212) 679-5000.

• READ COURT AUTHORIZED NOTICE OF LAWSUIT (ENGLISH)
• READ COURT AUTHORIZED NOTICE OF LAWSUIT (SPANISH)