FLSA decision puts C-suite executives on guard
In Irizarry v. Catsimatidis, the 2nd Circuit upheld a district court decision finding that Catsimatidis was an employer within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and could be held jointly and severally liable for the department managers unpaid wage claims.
August 29, 2013 at 08:00 PM
11 minute read
As the owner, president and CEO of New York-based grocery chain Gristedes, John Catsimatidis didn't sit in an office far removed from the day-to-day operations of the approximately 30 stores his company owned. Rather, Catsimatidis, who is also a candidate for mayor of New York, visited all of the company's locations on a weekly basis to check on how they were being run. He regularly interacted with store managers, made sales strategy decisions, and even got involved with how products were being displayed in the store aisles.
In 2004, a class of department managers sued Gristedes, claiming that they were improperly classified as exempt from overtime pay. Among the defendants named in the suit for back wages was Catsimatidis himself. Catsimatidis' intimate involvement with the day-to-day operations of the grocery stores he owned ultimately led to his personal assets being on the line in that lawsuit.
In Irizarry v. Catsimatidis, the 2nd Circuit upheld a district court decision finding that Catsimatidis was an “employer” within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and could be held jointly and severally liable for the department managers' unpaid wage claims.
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