Public Employee Press

Local 372 teaches DOE a lesson worth $1 million

Parent Coordinators in Local 372 will receive more than $1 million in damages, comp time and back pay to settle a lawsuit the union filed against the city and the Dept. of Education for violating federal law by not paying cash overtime.

“Many of our members were reluctant to file a grievance and join this suit,” said Veronica Montgomery-Costa, the president of Local 372 and DC 37. “I am delighted that the union members prevailed by demanding their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal law that protects workers’ rights.”

The union filed the suit in February 2007 after the DOE failed to pay time-and-a-half to Parent Coordinators and Parent Support Officers who worked through their lunch hours and exceeded their scheduled 35-to-40-hour workweeks.

After DOE compensated them with time — not cash, as the FLSA requires — the union filed a grievance and later the class action lawsuit against the city. The suit also charged that DOE failed to post FLSA posters at worksites to advise workers of their rights. Ivan Smith and Maureen Stampp of the law firm Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard and Smith handled the case.

The settlement, which the court approved on June 24, outlines a plan for the city to pay $650,000 for the plaintiffs to share. Any PCs and PSOs who signed on to the lawsuit but have not signed their release and lien documents are urged to contact Ms. Stampp at 212-232-1300 in
order to receive their payments, said Schools Division Director Marva Lewis-Bradford.

Under the settlement, the workers will keep any comp time they accrued before Feb 28, and DOE must provide an additional 6,813 hours in a “Settlement Comp” leave bank to be shared among the plaintiffs. DOE must now comply with the FLSA by paying PCs and PSOs overtime in cash for hours worked over the 40-hour workweek.

“This case demonstrates that when people stand up for their rights, they win,” said Smith. The cooperation of the members and the DC 37 Legal Dept. was “invaluable to the success of this case,” he added.