[NFBOH-Cleveland] Press Release: Court upheld a 2016 decision from the United States Department of Labor that found three individuals employed by Seneca Re-Ad Industries, Inc. are not disabled for the work they perform and cannot be paid less than minimum wage.

Wed Jan 17 17:58:04 UTC 2024

Release Date

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Type

 <https://nfb.org/press-release-types/press-release> Press Release

Category

 <https://nfb.org/press-releases/national> National

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Court Ruling Affirms Decision Awarding Back Pay and Liquidated Damages to
Individuals Who Were Unlawfully Paid Less Than Minimum Wage

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Jan. 10 2024 - In a ruling handed down last week by the
United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (Seneca Re-Ad
Industries, Inc. v. Secretary of the Department of Labor et al.,
3:20-cv-02325-JJH), the Court upheld a 2016 decision from the United States
Department of Labor that found three individuals employed by Seneca Re-Ad
Industries, Inc. are not disabled for the work they perform and cannot be
paid less than minimum wage. The Court affirmed the Department's award of
back pay and liquidated damages to Pamela Steward, Ralph "Joe" Magers, and
Mark Felton. Ms. Steward, Mr. Magers, and Mr. Felton were represented by
attorneys from Disability Rights Ohio and Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP. 

Seneca Re-Ad Industries, Inc. operates a sheltered workshop in Seneca
County, Ohio that is overseen by the Seneca County Board of Developmental
Disabilities and that performs work for Roppe Corporation, an international
flooring company. 

"This court action is a clear victory for those working to reverse
subminimum wage, and 
affirms our belief that having a disability does not make one unworthy of
fair pay," said Kerstin Sjoberg, DRO executive director. 

In November 2015, with the support of the National Federation of the Blind,
Ms. Steward, Mr. Magers, and Mr. Felton filed a petition with the Department
of Labor challenging their receipt of subminimum wages. In a
precedent-setting decision, the Department of Labor explained that employers
cannot rely on a provision in the Fair Labor Standards Act that allows
individuals with disabilities to be paid less than the minimum wage without
clear evidence that an individual's disability impacts his or her
productivity.  

"The National Federation of the Blind has fought the payment of subminimum
wages to the blind and other workers with disabilities since our founding,"
said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind.
"Now, after nearly a decade of litigation, a federal court has affirmed, for
the first time, that disability by itself cannot be used to demonstrate
lower productivity even under the terms of Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor
Standards Act. This ruling points to the truth that we have always known:
the subminimum wage exemption is simply a manifestation of society's low
expectations and false assumptions regarding the capacity of workers with
disabilities. We applaud the court for recognizing this truth as it applies
to the courageous workers who took their case to the Department of Labor,
but we will not rest until no blind or disabled worker can be victimized by
this antiquated, discriminatory, and immoral practice."

In addition to affirming that decision, the Court rejected Seneca Re-Ad's
argument that the Administrative Law Judge who ruled on Ms. Steward's, Mr.
Magers's, and Mr. Felton's petition was not properly appointed under the
U.S. Constitution.

"Eight years ago, a Department of Labor Administrative Law Judge affirmed
what Pamela Steward, Joe Magers, and Mark Felton have known all along: that
they are not disabled for the work they perform at Seneca Re-Ad, and that
they cannot be paid less than the minimum wage," said Kevin Docherty, a
partner at Brown, Goldstein & Levy. "The Court's ruling, upholding the
Department of Labor's landmark decision, is an important step forward in the
fight to curtail payment of subminimum wages to individuals with
disabilities."

About Disability Rights Ohio 
Disability Rights Ohio is the federally and state designated Protection and
Advocacy System and Client Assistance Program for the state of Ohio. The
mission of Disability Rights Ohio is to advocate for the human, civil and
legal rights of people with disabilities in Ohio. Disability Rights Ohio
provides legal advocacy and rights protection to a wide range of people with
disabilities. Find more information at
<https://www.disabilityrightsohio.org/> www.disabilityrightsohio.org.

###

About the National Federation of the Blind
The National Federation of the Blind, headquartered in Baltimore, defends
the rights of blind people of all ages and provides information and support
to families with blind children, older Americans who are losing vision, and
more. Founded in 1940, the NFB is the transformative membership and advocacy
organization of blind Americans with affiliates, chapters, and divisions in
the fifty states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico. We believe in the hopes
and dreams of blind people and work together to transform them into reality.
Learn more about our many programs and initiatives at <https://nfb.org/>
nfb.org.

CONTACT

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

410-659-9314, extension 2330

410-262-1281 (cell)

 <mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org> cdanielsen at nfb.org

 <https://nfb.org/> 

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