NEW PALTZ, NY: A former Leasing Consultant has brought suit against AvalonBay Communities, Inc. for its overtime policies. On January 11, 2007, the Getman Law Office filed a collective action overtime pay lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to recover unpaid overtime to AvalonBay’s leasing consultant employees. The case is filed as a “collective action” on behalf of similarly situated current and former Leasing Consultant employees who were paid on a hourly basis without receiving time and one half premium pay when they worked more than forty hours in a work week. Under federal law, a collective action allows similarly situated current and former employees to join the action to recover back wages.

Currently pending before the Court is Plaintiffs’ motion to authorize notice to be sent to similarly situated Leasing Consultants. Leasing Consultants job responsibilities include leasing apartments and providing customer service to current and prospective residents. Plaintiffs seek unpaid overtime wages and “liquidated” or double damages as allowed under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §201 et seq. The suit covers an unknown number of workers. The federal overtime law is a “new deal” piece of legislation designed to ensure reasonable hours of work and reasonable pay for that work for all U.S. workers.

“The practice of not paying time and one half overtime is unfortunately common, but it is generally illegal unless there is a specific exemption stated in the overtime law” said Michael J.D. Sweeney, lawyer for the Plaintiffs. “Once again companies are seeing profits at the expense of the employees. While CEO and management compensation has risen to historic levels, the wages of the people doing the real work remain stagnant. Part of the reason U.S. workers’ wages have not risen is that many workers are not being paid the overtime they are due under the law,” said Sweeney. The federal overtime law (the Fair Labor Standards Act) provides for a remedy of double the amount of unpaid wages as well as costs and attorneys’ fees assessed against the losing defendant.

AvalonBay maintains it’s headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. As of March 31, 2007, AvalonBay owned or held an interest in 171 apartment communities containing 49,402 apartment homes in ten states and the District of Columbia.

The suit is named Cohen, et al. v. AvalonBay Communities, Inc., 07 Civ. 0242 (S.D.N.Y. 2007). The case has been assigned to the Honorable Stephen C. Robinson. Contact:
Michael J.D. Sweeney (845) 255-9370


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