NEW YORK — Coach Inc., the luxury leather goods designer known for its women’s handbags, is facing a class action overtime lawsuit in New York state court. The proposed class action claims Coach purposely misclassified employees as unpaid interns to avoid minimum wage and overtime requirements in violation of New York labor laws. This lawsuit is the most recent in a growing line of former intern wage suits and comes less than two weeks after former Def Jam interns filed a similar claim in New York.
Coach Interns
From January through March of 2012, Johnetta Campbell worked for Coach as an intern. According to her lawsuit, Campbell typically worked 25 to 40 hours a week. As an intern, Campbell worked in the Coach warehouse, researched new trends and fabrics, created trend boards, and performed other assignment benefiting the company, but did not receive any compensation for her work.
Campbell claims the company has a policy and practice, which goes as far back as July 2008, of not paying interns despite assigning them the work of regular employees. Campbell believes the practice is intended to reduce labor costs and bypass wage and hours laws. By not classifying the interns as employees, Coach was not required to pay the interns minimum wage or overtime under federal labor laws. However, Campbell believes Coach’s internship program failed to meet New York labor law requirements. Campbell filed her lawsuit on behalf of herself and other interns who were not paid due to the misclassification dating back to 2008.
Wage and Hour Laws
Federal wage and hour laws apply to nearly all employers in the country. The federal requirements are the bare minimum with which employers must comply. In some states, wage and hour laws are silent and the federal law controls, or the state laws will mirror the federal requirements. But in some states, wage and hour laws are more expansive to include more employers or to provide greater protections to employees. In this case, Campbell filed her lawsuit under New York’s Minimum Wage Act. New York’s law regarding internships and intern pay includes the federal conditions and five additional conditions, which make it significantly more difficult for employers to claim their interns should not be paid at least minimum wage.
If you are or were an intern and you believe you were misclassified or did not receive proper wages, you may have a wage claim under either state or federal law. Contact our knowledgeable team of overtime pay lawyers today at (855) 754-2795 to discuss your rights. Or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form and our experienced legal team will evaluate your case. If we accept your case, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise. This means there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement. However, there are strict time deadlines for filing lawsuits so it is important to contact an attorney immediately.