Workers sue Mo`s Seafood for unpaid wages

 Workers sue Mo’s Seafood for unpaid wages Court authorizes restaurant workers to pursue a collective
action for unpaid wages and damages
As Marylanders, we like our seafood, but
discovering that the people who prepare and serve
it haven’t been fully paid leaves a bad taste. So
when we learned that several low-wage workers at
Mo’s Seafood restaurants had complaints about
their pay, we helped them take action. The
workers sued Mo’s Seafood, represented by the
Public Justice Center and Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, as part of
the PJC’s Litigation Partnership. We asked the Court to treat the
case as a collective action, so that in addition to representing the
workers who sued, we could notify hundreds of other current and
former Mo’s Seafood employees and seek to recover unpaid wages
and damages for that larger class. This June, the Court in Mendoza
v. Mo’s Seafood agreed, issuing a decision that has implications
beyond the dispute at hand. The Court publicly ruled – for the first
time in the District of Maryland and in the surrounding region – that
we could let Mo’s employees know about the case not just by mail
and postings, but also through social media. As a result, we’re using
Facebook to notify workers at all Mo’s branches about their potential
claims, which may help reach transient low-wage workers in high
turnover industries, like restaurants. This ruling could set precedent
for the future, making it easier for the most vulnerable employees to
pursue wage-and-hour actions collectively. Ultimately, we hope that
this case will not only achieve justice for the workers at Mo’s, but
also remind restaurants of their responsibility to pay their employees
fully for their labor.
Brief challenges debt buyers’ abuse of consumers Inaccurate information. Falsified legal documents. Abuse of
consumers. Strategic use of lawsuits and forced arbitration. Sounds
like a recipe for an ethical business, no? The debt buyer industry
consistently uses such tactics, seemingly without regard for whether
they’re reaching the right people or giving them a fair chance to
defend themselves. In an August amicus brief, the Public Justice
September 15, 2016
In this issue
Workplace giving campaigns
kick off
Now accepting applications for
the 2017-2018 Murnaghan
Fellowship
Workers sue Mo’s Seafood for
unpaid wages
Brief challenges debt buyers’
abuse of consumers
Transition time
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Center and allies called out these unsavory practices and urged the
courts to make it possible for consumers to hold debt buyers
accountable for these practices. Read more here.
Now accepting
applications for the
2017-2018 Murnaghan
Fellowship Transition time The Francis D. Murnaghan,
Jr. Appellate Advocacy
Fellowship allows a recent law
graduate who has completed
a judicial clerkship to spend a
year engaging in appellate
advocacy in the areas of civil
rights and poverty law at the
Public Justice Center. You
can find more information on applying for the 2017-2018
fellowship here.
We say farewell and thank you to
Murnaghan Fellow Tassity Johnson
and Jesuit Volunteer Patrick
McDonell, who completed their year
at the Public Justice Center. We
welcome Murnaghan Fellow Anthony May, Education Equity
Fellow Renuka Rege, and Jesuit Volunteer and housing paralegal Jon Colarelli.
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