Gladhanders of amNew York File Minimum Wage Class Action
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Promoters who hand out the amNew York newspaper outside subway entrances on weekday mornings are claiming that the company has been paying them less than the minimum wage, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.
The suit comes on the eve of shareholders voting on the sale of amNew York’s parent company, the Tribune Co., to real estate billionaire Sam Zell. The Tribune Co. is named as a defendant in the suit.
Seven of the promoters filed a class action on behalf of all the individuals who hand out the newspapers. The number of promoters employed by amNew York is not listed in the suit, but a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Daniel Kirschenbaum, said it is at least 100.
Mr. Kirschenbaum said the promoters are paid a flat rate of $20 a day, regardless of the number of hours they work.
The promoters work as many as four hours a day, meaning that they are often paid below the New York State minimum wage of $7.15 an hour, Mr. Kirschenbaum said. “The facts of it are so simple that it’s almost sad that this is what’s happening,” Mr. Kirschenbaum said.
A spokeswoman from the Tribune Company, Deidra Parrish Williams, said the company has no knowledge of the suit and cannot comment.
