Okeke v. Interfaith Medical Center
224 A.D.3d 763, 205 N.Y.S.3d 189, 2024 N.Y. Slip Op. 00774
Appellate Division, Second Department · February 14, 2024
What the court decided
A physician alleged that the hospital "improperly withheld a portion of the wages he had earned," a promised additional $96 for each shift in which he performed medical evaluations of pre-admitted psychiatric patients. That stated a claim under § 193, and the class allegations and an age discrimination claim under the New York City Human Rights Law also survived.
Who won
The employee's estate won on appeal. The denial of the hospital's motion to dismiss was affirmed, with costs.
Why it matters for salespeople
The claims were brought in 2017, before the 2021 amendment, and the court did not rely on it: in the Second Department, withholding earned pay has been treated as a § 193 violation on its own terms. Matthew Berman was counsel for the employee's estate on the appeal.
Key passage: 224 A.D.3d 763 at 764.
We do not host a copy of this decision. The full text is available free from New York State Law Reporting Bureau (official slip opinion).
This page summarizes the decision in plain language.