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What I've Been Reading This Week


A good portion of my week was spent in trial preparation and the subsequent trial.  Although I had little time to read through articles, being out of the office most of the week, there were still a couple articles I wanted to note.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


Wage & Overtime Suit Brought By Current and Former Employees of Founding Farmers

Last week, several current and former employees brought suit against the company that oversees the Founding Farmers restaurants located in Maryland and D.C.  As Tim Carman at The Washington Post  indicates, this lawsuit is based in part upon claims that employees were not paid overtime wages.  Although many employees worked at different locations throughout the week (and worked more than 40 hours combined among locations), they claim the company failed to pay them overtime wages in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Of course, this lawsuit was just filed last week and no answer has been filed yet.  With that being said, it will be interesting to see how this one plays out...I recall eating at one of the Founding Farmers restaurants in D.C. earlier this year with one of my sisters.  I can certainly say that I can see the need for workers at these restaurants to work more than 40 hours a week; the place was packed when we were there.


Bill to Raise Delaware's Minimum Wage Temporarily Put On Hold

Earlier this week, the Delaware General Assembly put on hold a minimum wage bill that would raise hourly minimum wage rates in the state (from its current hourly rate of $8.25/hour) to $10.25/hour in 2020.  The bill, sponsored by Democratic State Senator Robert Marshall, was tabled so that Senator Marshall could add a provision detailing how the hourly minimum wage rate will increase after 2020.  Although a similar bill was introduced last year, it failed to make it all the way through the Delaware Legislature.  Hard to say if this year will be any different, as of now, but Democrats might have the votes to make this bill a reality.

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