PLAINTIFF STATED CAUSES OF ACTION FOR VIOLATION OF LABOR LAW 193, IMPROPER DEDUCTIONS FROM WAGES, AND LABOR LAW 215, TERMINATION FOR COMPLAINING OF THE IMPROPER DEDUCTIONS (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff had stated causes of action for violation of Labor Law 193 by making improper deductions from earned wages, and Labor Law 215, by firing plaintiff after she complained of unlawful deductions:

… [P]laintiff alleged that defendants “impermissibly and unlawfully made deductions from [her] wages including the operating costs and expenses of OFRM [her employer] such as, among other things, credit card fees, bank services bills and electric bills.” She also alleged that her draw and net bonus payments constituted “earned wages,” and that defendants had “unlawfully made deductions from [her] [w]ages.” …

Under Labor Law § 193(1)(b), “[n]o employer shall make any deduction from the wages of an employee, except deductions which . . . are expressly authorized in writing by the employee and are for the benefit of the employee.” In order to state a claim for a violation of § 193, “a plaintiff must allege a specific deduction from wages and not merely a failure to pay wages” … . Additionally, a “‘deduction is more targeted and direct than the wholesale withholding’ of wages” … . * * *

Labor Law § 215 provides, in pertinent part, that no employer “shall discharge, threaten, penalize, or in any other manner discriminate against any employee (i) because such employee has made a complaint to his or her employer . . . that the employer has engaged in conduct that the employee, reasonably and in good faith, believes violates any provision of [the Labor Law].” Schmidt-Sarosi v Offices for Fertility & Reproductive Medicine, P.C., 2021 NY Slip Op 03564, First Dept 6-8-21