In Perez v. City of New York, Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss successfully convinced the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to overturn a judgment dismissing overtime compensation claims and then, after defeating a renewed summary judgment motion, won a settlement for more than $1.7 million (plus attorneys’ fees) for NYC Parks Department employees. The case, which GR&M litigated over the course of five years, was initially dismissed by a district court. GR&M prosecuted an appeal from that dismissal to the Second Circuit, which overturned the lower courts’ ruling in its entirety. On remand before a new judge, GR&M persuaded the district court to deny the City’s remaining arguments for summary judgment. In its ruling, the district court rejected the City’s assertions that the Union had acquiesced to the City’s decision not to pay plaintiffs for time spent donning and doffing their uniforms, that the City’s conduct was not willful, and that the City was not liable for overtime about which it knew but which the employee did not report. At that point, rather than go to trial, the City settled.
Perez v. City of New York No. 15-315 (2d Cir. 2016)
