A New York City judge has ruled that two beauty salon employees who claim they were fired in retaliation for complaining that they had been denied overtime pay have stated a claim for damages under the New York State Labor Law. In doing so, the court overruled an appeal’s court precedent in a similar matter decided in 2009.
The court’s ruling in the case, entitled Ji v. Belle World Beauty, was based on New York State Labor Law §215, which states that no employer shall “discharge” any employee for having made a complaint that “a provision of this chapter” has been violated. New York Department of Labor regulations incorporate the federal law governing overtime, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).