An emergency medical technician has filed a class and collective action lawsuit against Maimonides Medical Center, alleging violations of federal and state labor laws. The complaint names the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law (NYLL) as the governing statutes.
According to the complaint, plaintiff Alexander Scheitinger has been employed by Maimonides as an EMT since January 2023. He claims that the medical center uses a “shift differential pay scheme” that excludes certain compensation from his regular rate of pay when calculating overtime. As a result, he alleges employees are not paid the required overtime rate of at least 1.5 times their regular pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a week.
According to the complaint, Scheitinger typically works between 8 to 12 hours per day across four to five days each week, averaging about 50 hours. He alleges Maimonides fails to provide accurate wage statements or required notices about his compensation structure, as required under NYLL § 195(1) and § 195(3).
Scheitinger seeks to represent both a collective group under the FLSA and a class under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The proposed FLSA collective includes all hourly employees paid under the shift differential scheme during the past three years. The proposed New York Class includes those affected over six years, plus an additional period tolled under COVID-19 executive orders.
The lawsuit seeks unpaid wages with interest, liquidated damages equal to unpaid wages, statutory damages of up to $5,000 per member for wage statement violations, and attorney’s fees.
The plaintiff is represented by attorneys Richard J. Burch of Bruckner Burch PLLC and Michael A. Josephson and Andrew W. Dunlap of Josephson Dunlap LLP. The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York under case ID 1:25-cv-3162.