On July 7, 2015, Jamie Martin and Daneisha Singleton, former representatives for Assurance Wireless and Wallace Morgan filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking minimum wages and overtime pay. They brought the case on behalf of employees across the country and in New York who worked for Assurance and companies with which it partners, such as Wallace Morgan. They seek to recover unpaid minimum wages, overtime premiums and double damages for themselves, a proposed nationwide collective under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and a proposed Rule 23 Class in New York.
Assurance is a wireless company that provides free phones and services through the federal Lifeline Assistance Program. Assurance partners with companies across the country, such as Wallace Morgan, who, in turn, provide representatives whose primary job duty is to get consumers to fill out applications for enrollment in the program through Assurance. The Complaint alleges that Assurance and its partners jointly employ those representatives, but intentionally misclassify them as “independent contractors,” to avoid having to pay them at least the minimum wage for all of their hours worked and the required overtime compensation for their overtime hours.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Rachhana T. Srey stated, “These employees work at the behest of Assurance and its partners day in and day out, yet are not guaranteed at least the minimum wage due to employees or proper overtime compensation. We are confident that the Court will agree with us and award necessary back pay and damages.”
Plaintiffs are represented by Rachhana T. Srey and Anna P. Prakash from Nichols Kaster, PLLP in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Brian Schaffer, Joseph Fitapelli, and Frank Mazzaferro at Fitapelli and Schaffer, LLP in New York.
The case is entitled, Martin, et al. v. Assurance Wireless, LLC, et al. 15-5237 (Southern District of New York).
Additional information about how to make a claim in the case may be found at www.nka.com or by calling Nichols Kaster, PLLP toll free at (877) 344-4628.