After Hurricane Sandy hit New York and New Jersey, emergency workers moved into high gear to restore damage done to area hospitals. At the time, New York storm restoration workers simply did what was required and worried about getting paid later. However, when “later” arrived, the contractors and subcontractors who hired them bilked them out of $500,000 in wages and overtime.
Underpaid & Unappreciated
That’s how many of the workers who helped to repair local hospitals likely felt after not receiving the wages and overtime they were promised. According to the NY Daily News, contractor Signal Restoration Services and some of its subcontractors hired storm restoration workers to repair the damage done to three of New York’s hospitals – Bellevue Hospital Center, Coney Island Hospital and Coler-Goldwater Memorial Hospital.
However, when it came time to pay workers, Signal Restoration Services and its subcontractors paid less than the prevailing wage. According to New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the workers should have received at least $16.99 an hour and, for overtime, $25 to $49 an hour. Many were paid just $10 to $12 an hour and got no overtime.
The attorney general said that workers who toiled long hours to rebuild New York after Hurricane Sandy deserve fair wages and the full protection of the law. Signal and other subcontractors have agreed to pay workers more than $500,000 in back wages.
Don’t You Deserve The Full Protection Of The Law?
The workers described above did what they were asked to do and expected the payment they were promised. It should have been as simple as that. But it wasn’t. The New York Attorney General had to intervene.
Homeowners who pay premiums and expect insurance companies to honor their promises also deserve the fullest protection of the law. Insurance companies who engage in bad faith insurance practices such as disputing settlement amounts, improperly calculating deductibles, undervaluing claims, proposing unfair settlement amounts or denying claims outright can – and should – be held accountable for the contractual promises they make to homeowners.
If your insurance company has engaged in any of the above practices, you might be entitled to compensation in addition to getting your homeowners claim paid. Contact Belluck & Fox and let one of our experienced New York insurance dispute attorneys analyze your situation, get your claim settled once and for all and determine whether you might be entitled to other compensation for bad faith insurance practices.