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People protesting for workers’ rights outside of New York City Hall.

Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

New Yorkers lead the nation in pushing back against employers taking advantage of them at their hourly jobs in federal court.

The state’s workers filed 1,269 suits under the Federal Labor Standards Act against bosses who paid them under the minimum wage, didn’t pay overtime or forced them to work off the clock, according to a new report from national labor law firm Seyfarth Shaw. 

It’s not a close call, either, the report says: New Yorkers filed 400 more cases in federal court under FLSA than the country’s second most litigious state, California, and almost thirteen times more than the national average of 114. 

Moreover, these cases make up over 10% of the cases in the Eastern District of New York, the federal court covering Brooklyn and Long Island, and almost 6% of the cases in the Southern District of New York, which covers Manhattan, the Bronx and the Hudson Valley.

That’s likely because the state has some of the strongest worker protection laws in the country, creating an environment where people are aware of their rights, said Kyle Winnick, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw. 

“It shows that when you have more wage and hour laws on the book, that’s going to just lead to more lawsuits,” Winnick said. “I believe that the trend will continue to increase, especially as more and more laws protective of employees are being passed.”

Winnick said he thought New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection’s increased push to take companies that break worker protection laws to court could contribute to the number of suits filed as well, as the increased visibility around worker rights could show others they’re able to take action, too.

There’s also more suits filed in New York because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has a lower bar for filing a collective action suit under the statute, Winnick said. That makes the district a more desirable place for plaintiffs to file in if they’re accusing a national company that operates in New York of wrongdoing on a large scale, for example. 

Retail, medical, professional services firms and other jobs that primarily employ shift and hourly workers are the industries most targeted by these suits, Winnick said. 

Winnick said the uptick in suits should put employers in the state on notice.

“I think it’s very important for employers to make sure that they have sound wage and hour policies,” Winnick said. “These types of cases are certainly not going away anytime soon, and in fact, they’re increasing in the state. It should inspire a renewed effort to make sure that all policies are sound, and perhaps to form some sort of internal audit.”