Category: News

Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss LLP is proud to announce that several of its attorneys were selected for inclusion in the Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers guide for 2023. The GRM attorneys recognized are:

• Amy Gladstein* – Workers’ Rights; Unions
• Katherine H. Hansen – Unions; Employee Rights
• Kent Y. Hirozawa – Unions; Employee Rights
• Beth Margolis – Unions; Employee Rights
• William S. Massey – Unions & Collective Bargaining
• Walter “Terry” Meginniss Jr. – Unions & Collective Bargaining
• James Reif* – Employee & Civil Rights
• Amelia Tuminaro – Unions; Employee Rights

*Denotes members of the Lawdragon Hall of Fame

Their recognition underscores the firm’s longstanding commitment to advancing workers’ rights and union advocacy at the highest levels of the profession.

View the full publication online: The 2023 Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers.

 

Partners Amy Gladstein and Jessica Harris were selected for the Super Lawyers 2023 New York Metro lists—Amy as a Super Lawyer and Jessica as a Rising Star.

Super Lawyers recognizes attorneys who have distinguished themselves in their legal practice, with only about 5% of attorneys in the state selected as Super Lawyers and no more than 2.5% of attorneys named Rising Stars.

Their inclusion underscores both attorneys’ professional excellence and reinforces GRM’s leadership in labor and employment law.

Magistrate Judge James Cho, a New York federal judge, has limited Starbucks’ discovery requests in an NLRB case involving union activity at the company’s Great Neck, Long Island store. The judge rejected most of Starbucks’ subpoenas seeking extensive information about Workers United’s union campaign, ruling that the company’s demands exceeded what is typical in National Labor Relations Board injunction cases.

The subpoenas were challenged by the NLRB, the union, and two of the subpoenaed workers, who are represented by Jessica Harris of Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss.

The judge restricted Starbucks’ access to communications to those specifically related to the Great Neck store and limited the timeframe to the period between the filing of the union petition in February 2022 and the union’s narrow loss in May 2022. While the company can obtain certain post-election communications about workers’ changing sentiments during the campaign period, the judge denied broader requests for pre-petition communications, non-Great Neck employee views, and unrelated media contacts.

This ruling contrasts with a more expansive discovery order granted in a similar Starbucks case in Buffalo last year, which allowed access to nationwide union communications. That Buffalo order is currently under appeal.

The underlying NLRB complaint alleges that Starbucks interfered with workers’ organizing efforts by using subpoenas to investigate union activities.

Read Law360’s coverage.

1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is urging the Second Circuit to uphold a lower court’s decision denying a group of former home care workers the ability to challenge a $40 million arbitration award. The union, represented by Jim Reif of Gladstein Reif & Meginniss, LLP and Laureve Blackstone of Levy Ratner PC, argued the workers were not parties to the arbitration and had no legal standing to intervene or appeal under the National Labor Relations Act.

The arbitration followed a 2019 grievance by the union alleging wage and hour violations. In 2022, arbitrator Martin F. Scheinman issued an award creating a $40 million fund to compensate more than 100,000 workers across 42 employers. A New York federal court confirmed the award in June of that year.

Thirteen former employees attempted to intervene, claiming the award affected their separate class action lawsuits, but the court rejected their request. The union maintains that the workers failed to show they were harmed or that the union breached its duty of fair representation—key requirements for challenging such an outcome. The union further argued that questions of arbitrability were properly delegated to the arbitrator under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, and that the workers’ claims lacked standing, especially since no class had been certified in their lawsuits.

The Second Circuit is currently reviewing the case.

Read the Union’s brief.

Law360’s coverage.

Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss LLP attorney James M. Reif, together with co-counsel Laureve Blackstone of Levy Ratner PC, representing 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, urged the Second Circuit to uphold a $40 million arbitration award that resolved wage and hour violations for more than 100,000 home health care workers.

In its brief, the union argued that a group of former employees lacked standing to challenge the award because they were not parties to the arbitration and did not show any injury that would allow intervention. The union emphasized that under the National Labor Relations Act, individual employees represented by a union cannot intervene absent allegations of a breach of the duty of fair representation.

The dispute stems from a 2019 grievance that led to arbitrator Martin F. Scheinman’s February 2022 award, later confirmed by a New York federal court. That ruling established a $40 million fund to cover claims against 42 employers. The district court denied a bid by 13 workers to intervene and partially vacate the award, and the workers appealed to the Second Circuit.

The union told the appeals court that the award should stand because the arbitrator correctly concluded that calculating individual wage losses was impractical and that the collective resolution was appropriate. The appeal has been consolidated with related challenges to arbitration orders involving home health care employers.

The case is 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East v. PSC Community Services et al., Case Nos. 21-0631, 21-0633, and 22-1587, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Read Law360’s coverage.

The National Labor Relations Board ruled that Alaris Health at Boulevard East violated federal labor law by ending COVID-19 bonuses without bargaining with 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, represented by Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss LLP attorneys Kent Y. Hirozawa and William S. Massey.

In a decision issued by a three-member panel, the Board overturned an administrative law judge who had previously found that Alaris did not violate the National Labor Relations Act. The panel concluded that the bonuses, which equaled 100% of workers’ hourly rates during the first wave of the pandemic, were tied to terms and conditions of employment and therefore subject to mandatory bargaining. Because employees only received the payments if they worked, the Board determined the bonuses were compensation rather than discretionary gifts.

The panel also noted that Alaris disregarded repeated reminders from the union that it had a right to be consulted before any changes were made. The Board held that excluding the union from these decisions was inconsistent with the statutory framework designed to promote stable labor relations.

In addition, the Board granted partial summary judgment to the NLRB general counsel on back pay allegations, holding that the company was in the best position to determine the amounts owed since it had unilaterally modified bonuses between April and November 2020.

The case is Alaris Health at Boulevard East and 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Case No. 22–CA–268083, before the National Labor Relations Board.

Read Law360’s coverage.

Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss LLP is proud to share that attorneys Amy Gladstein, James Reif, Walter M. Meginniss Jr., and Beth Margolis continue to maintain the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® rating for 2023. This prestigious honor is the highest peer rating standard, recognizing lawyers who are ranked at the top level of professional excellence for legal expertise, communication skills, and ethical standards.

For decades, Martindale-Hubbell ratings have been recognized as a trusted mark of distinction in the legal profession. The consistent recognition of GRM’s attorneys highlights their dedication to excellence and underscores the firm’s leadership in protecting workers’ rights.

Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss LLP attorneys Walter Meginniss Jr. and Amelia Tuminaro, representing several first responders and their union, reached a settlement with New York City in litigation over work restrictions imposed after the workers spoke to the media about COVID-19 conditions.

U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed the case after the parties jointly informed the court of the agreement. The lawsuit, filed in 2020 by emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and the Uniformed EMTs, Paramedics and Fire Inspectors Local 2507, alleged that the City unlawfully restricted duties such as patient care, overtime, and driving FDNY vehicles in retaliation for media interviews given by several first responders.

Judge Liman had previously ruled that the workers’ First Amendment and state constitutional free speech claims were entitled to proceed to a jury trial, while dismissing due process claims. The planned trial was avoided through the settlement, which is still being finalized.

The case is Oren Barzilay et al. v. City of New York et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-04452, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Read Law360’s coverage.

Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss LLP attorney Katherine Hansen, representing 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, urged a New York federal judge to reject an attempt by Alaris Health at Hamilton Park and Confidence Management Systems to vacate a nearly $866,000 judgment in a wage dispute.

In its filing, the union argued that the companies offered no valid excuse for failing to pay workers, pointing out that they were aware of the litigation but waited months after judgment was entered before taking action. The filing emphasized that further delay could deprive health care workers of long-overdue compensation and warned that vacating the judgment might allow the employers to avoid liability entirely. The union also asked the court to award attorney fees and costs for having to oppose the motion.

The case is 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East v. Alaris Health at Hamilton Park et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-00531, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Read Law360’s coverage.

A federal judge has ruled that a jury should decide whether New York City unlawfully punished unionized FDNY first responders by restricting their work after they spoke publicly about working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first responders and their Union are represented by Walter Meginniss Jr. and Amelia Tuminaro of Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss LLP.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman issued a 106-page order finding that a jury should decide whether the City’s restrictions on the workers violated their First Amendment rights under federal law and their free speech rights under the New York State Constitution.

The lawsuit, filed in June 2020 by emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and their union Local 2507, alleges that the City restricted the first responders’ duties after they appeared in media reports during the early days of the pandemic. According to the workers, they remained on the payroll but were blocked from patient care, field assignments, and overtime.

Judge Liman determined that some of the workers’ speech was constitutionally protected and that a reasonable jury could find the restrictions discouraged union members from speaking out. He further explained that it will be up to jurors to decide whether the City would have imposed the same restrictions if the first responders had not engaged in protected speech.

The judge’s ruling sets the stage for a jury trial to determine if the city violated the free speech rights of frontline healthcare workers during the pandemic.

The case is Oren Barzilay et al. v. City of New York et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-04452, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Read Law360’s coverage.