Duran v. R&L Interior Renovations and Construction, Corp., and Luis Fermin, individually; Case No.: 20-cv-9344-AJN

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

Duran v. R&L Interior Renovations and Construction, Corp., and Luis Fermin, individually; Case No.: 20-cv-9344-AJN

As previously reported on this website, in Duran v. R&L Interior Renovations and Construction, Corp., and Luis Fermin, individually; Case Number:20-cv-9344, on November 6, 2020, Lead Plaintiff, Mr. Duran, on behalf of himself, 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 R&L INTERIOR RENOVATIONS AND CONSTRUCTION, CORP. (“R&L”), and LUIS FERMIN, individually, (collectively as “Defendants”), alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”), and the New York Comp. Codes, Rules, and Regulations (“NYCCRR”), including the failure of Defendants to compensate Plaintiff for overtime wages. The claims of the case are referenced in our December 2020 blog post and are reviewed as follows:

Plaintiff worked for Defendants – – a Bronx-based construction and remodeling company and its owner and day-to-day overseer – – as a laborer from on or around July 24, 2017 until November 24, 2018;
Throughout his employment, Defendants willfully failed to pay Plaintiff the overtime wages lawfully due to him under the FLSA and the NYLL or the minimum wage required under the NYLL;
Defendants required Plaintiff to work, and Plaintiff did in fact work, in excess of forty hours virtually each week, yet Defendants failed to compensate Plaintiff at least at the rate of one and one-half times the minimum wage, or one and one-half times his regular rate, whichever was greater, for any hours that he worked in excess of forty in a week;

Defendants paid Plaintiff a flat daily rate regardless of how many hours he worked in a day or in a week that did not include overtime premiums, and which fell below New York’s statutorily-required minimum wage rate for all hours worked;

Defendants paid and treated all their non-managerial laborers in the same manner.

Defendant violated Plaintiff’s rights guaranteed to him by the overtime provisions of the FLSA, the NYLL and the NYCCRR. Additionally, Defendant violated the NYLL by failing to provide Plaintiff with any wage statements on each payday or with any wage notice at the time of his respective hire, let alone an accurate one.

Certification of Collective Action

In this case, pursuant to the request of the Plaintiff, 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 October 18, 2021, Plaintiffs’ motion for approval of a collection 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 November 6, 2017 – present or has information that may be relevant to this case, contact Borrelli & Associates, P.L.L.C. as soon as possible through one of our websites, www.employmentlawyernewyork.com, www.516abogado.com or any of our phone numbers: (516) 248-5550, (516) ABOGADO, and (212) 679-5000.