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One to Keep An Eye On: Guzman v. Party City Corporation (U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York)


Is the party over?  Perhaps, at least according to a recent lawsuit filed against Party City in which it is alleged that the company violated New York law when it failed to pay workers on time - allegedly paying workers bi weekly rather than weekly.

The lawsuit, filed at the end of January, alleges that a group of workers in New York routinely unpacked and sorted inventory, reshelved returned items, stocked aisles, and swept and mopped the floor.  These workers claim they were paid bi weekly rather than weekly.  According to the lawsuit, New York law requires that manual laborers must be paid weekly.  (Clerical and other workers must be paid at least twice a month, according to New York law.)  Exceptions to the weekly pay stipulation for manual workers can be made for large employers in the state, so long as certain conditions are met and the New York Department of Labor approves the exemption request.

Party City has yet to respond to the lawsuit but this is an interesting one for readers to track.  Does stocking shelves, cleaning the store, and related tasks qualify as manual labor?  I am not so sure, but I think it is likely that this will be a fact intensive inquiry that will turn on some specific details.  Stay tuned.


For a copy of the complaint:  https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21196064-hyvtol-show_temp

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