“The Court believes … Charny’s performance, clearly a result of his years of experience and trial expertise, played a critical role in the Plaintiff’s success.”
With an exceptional track record of success, Charny & Wheeler P.C. brings decades of highly skilled experience representing workers and unions in labor and employment law across the full breadth of industries and positions, from hourly employees to highly compensated executives.
We advocate tenaciously on behalf of our clients. We are not afraid to take on powerful interests, including large class action lawsuits or individual claims. Charny and Wheeler PC works vigorously to safeguard the legal rights of workers and labor unions throughout the Country. Whether its wage theft, a hostile work environment, retaliation, or any other workplace violation, we take on employers of all sizes, from multinational corporations to small businesses. Our successes range from reversing terminations and winning back pay awards to achieving landmark multimillion dollar verdicts.
With offices in the Hudson Valley and New York City, Charny & Wheeler P.C. takes pride in our commitment to provide compassionate, hands on legal counsel, with constant and clear communication throughout the process. We understand how workplace conflicts can create timely duress, and we strive to respond quickly to achieve the best possible strategy and resolution for our clients.
YOUR JOB IS OUR BUSINESS
“We achieved what we aimed to while being represented by Nathaniel of Charny & Wheeler P.C. Nathaniel made me feel like a priority and wanted to do as much as he could for the case. I would recommend this firm to anyone with a workplace dispute. Nathaniel knows his stuff and is always available, being just a phone call away!”
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Charny secures a $3.5 million jury verdict for 280 New York home health care aides, recovering unpaid overtime and wage-notice damages and holding the company’s owner personally liable.
The 280 home health care aides claimed Affiliated Care failed to pay required overtime and violated New York wage notice and wage statement laws. A federal jury also found the company’s owner personally liable based on her control over the business.
Charny secures a $3.5 million jury verdict for 280 New York home health care aides, recovering unpaid overtime and wage-notice damages and holding the company’s owner personally liable.
In a stunning recovery for 280 home health care aides working for Affiliated Care and its principal Barbara Kessman, a Federal District Court jury returned a verdict totaling $3,509,762.12.
The group of New York State home health care aides were granted unpaid overtime and damages for their employer’s failure to comply with New York’s wage notice and wage statement requirements. Post-trial motions will include the addition of attorneys fees and costs and interest, which is likely to bring the total judgment in excess of $5 million.
In addition, the jury found that the owner of the Company was personally liable for the damages given her complete control over the company. Charny states about the verdict: “I am thrilled at this result, and so proud of the brave home health care aides who came to court and told the truth to this jury. It’s been a long haul, with the company and defendant Kessman fighting us each step of the way. But the jury saw through the defendants’ defenses and gave the plaintiffs an absolute and total victory.”
Mayo-Coleman vs. American Sugars Holdings, Inc. results in $13.4 million jury verdict for sexual harassment in the workplace.
A federal jury in Manhattan awarded more than $13 million to Rosanna Mayo-Coleman, a storeroom attendant at American Sugar's refinery in Yonkers, after finding that her supervisor sexually harassed her and the company failed to stop it.
Mayo-Coleman vs. American Sugars Holdings, Inc. results in $13.4 million jury verdict for sexual harassment in the workplace.
In March 2018, a federal jury in Manhattan awarded more than $13 million to Rosanna Mayo-Coleman, a storeroom attendant at American Sugar's refinery in Yonkers, after finding that her supervisor sexually harassed her and the company failed to stop it. Nathaniel K. Charny of Charny & Wheeler tried the case with co-counsel Megan Goddard of Goddard Law. The award is believed to be among the largest ever in New York for a harassment case brought by a single employee.
Mayo-Coleman had worked at the plant for 20 years, one of only a few women among more than 150 men, when a new supervisor began pursuing her in 2008. When she refused his advances, he retaliated: he told crude jokes about her to coworkers, restricted her to cleaning duties, gave her more work than her peers, and withheld her pay. Management did nothing to protect her. She kept showing up for work anyway and initially filed the lawsuit on her own. The jury found the company violated both federal and New York law. It awarded her $1.7 million for the emotional harm she suffered and $11.7 million in punitive damages, which are meant to punish the employer and deter others.
Federal law caps punitive damages against large employers at $300,000, so Mayo-Coleman will not collect the full punitive award. Charny has pointed to the case as evidence that Congress should revisit those limits, which had not changed in more than 25 years. Even so, the verdict shows how seriously juries now treat workplace harassment and an employer's duty to act when it happens.
Claude Lewis vs. American Sugars Holdings, Inc.: $2.354 million jury verdict for race/national origin discrimination in the workplace.
A jury found that a Black employee at the Domino Sugar Refinery in Yonkers, NY, faced racial bias and retaliation after reporting the racial bias, including discriminatory remarks, adverse treatment after reporting the remarks, and being kept out of HR meetings where the issue was being discussed.
Claude Lewis vs. American Sugars Holdings, Inc.: $2.354 million jury verdict for race/national origin discrimination in the workplace.
Claude Lewis, a Black employee at the Domino Sugar Refinery in Yonkers, NY, faced racial bias and retaliation after reporting the racial bias, including discriminatory remarks, adverse treatment after reporting the remarks, and being kept out of HR meetings where the issue was being discussed.
A jury awarded Mr. Lewis $2.35 milion in April, 2018.