Summary of Recent FLSA Amendments

In May 2016, the Department of Labor enacted several important changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) relating to overtime-exempt employees. These amendments substantially expand the number of salaried workers that will be able to claim overtime wages. These new rules go into effect on December 1, 2016. It is important for unions and […]

Court Approves $2 million Settlement in Class Action Wage Lawsuit

BHMK in collaboration with attorneys from the Oregon Nurses Association successfully settled the class action lawsuit of Thanane v. Providence Health & Services – Oregon. The lawsuit alleged that Providence violated state and federal laws by withholding wages from employees. Specifically, BHMK attorneys argued that Providence managers fraudulently altered employee timecards to avoid payment of […]

FLSA Action: Two Cases

Approximately 80 Paramedics, Dispatchers, and EMTs filed claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act for wages for training time required to maintain EMT certifications. Hank Kaplan represented the employee class, pursued the case in Federal Court and won a ruling that the employer was in violation of the FLSA and owed two years of back […]

Unlawful Paycheck Deductions Reimbursed

After an employee was terminated from his employer, the employer made deductions from the employees final paycheck. These deductions were for allegedly incorrect expense account reimbursements. Tom Doyle successfully obtained reimbursement to the employee for all unlawful deductions and penalty wages.

City Not Entitled to Recoup Overpaid Pension Benefits by Self-Help

After the City of Portland discovered a 15-year-old error in its pension payment calculations for public safety members of the Fire Police Disability and Retirement Fund, the City tried to get back overpayments totaling more than $3 million, by taking it directly out of Fire and Police Pension benefits, without giving members a chance to […]