MIAMI – A live-in domestic employee alleges her former Miami-Dade County employers failed to pay her the minimum wage.
Yilda Pineda filed a complaint on March 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division against Yako Morjain, Fortuna Kopel and Rachel Kopel alleging that they intentionally violated the Florida Minimum Wage Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that between June 1, 2011, and Dec. 9, 2016, she worked for an average of 98 hours per week for defendants and was paid approximately $5.40 an hour.
The plaintiff holds Morjain, Fortuna Kopel and Rachel Kopel responsible because the defendants allegedly recklessly disregarded the minimum wage provisions of the FLSA by paying plaintiff approximately $5.40 per hour.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks to recover all unpaid wages accumulated from the date of hire, liquidated damages, costs and reasonable attorney’s fees and such other and further relief, as this court deems equitable. She is represented by R. Martin Saenz and Vanessa Underwood Steelman of Saenz & Anderson PLLC in Aventura.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division Case number 1:17-cv-21020