Ms. Hernandez has been a wage and hour practitioner for nearly 20 years, first as a government official for the United States Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division and then as an attorney. She has a breadth of experience in complex civil litigation matters, and she has served as counsel in large wage and hour class actions involving thousands of employees. She is a tenacious and passionate litigator who works tirelessly for her clients. Before launching her own law practice, she worked for a mid-size firm in Raleigh, NC where she built a wage and hour practice from the ground up.
In 1997, Ms. Hernandez started her wage and hour career as a government official with the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division in Los Angeles, CA. She initiated field investigations of industrial, agricultural, and other business establishments to obtain compliance with federal labor and immigration laws; enforced immigration programs under the amended H-1(B) program of INA and employment eligibility; enforced federal labor laws regarding minimum or prevailing wage rates, overtime pay, family medical leave, wage garnishment, migrant safety and health protection, government contracts and similar matters related to employment and hours worked. She worked closely with employers to ensure their understanding of the requirements of the law and advised them on how to reach and maintain compliance.
Currently, Ms. Hernandez’s practice is focused on representing individual plaintiffs and plaintiffs in complex collective and class action litigation for alleged violations of the FLSA, NCWHA, and any other state’s wage and hour laws. Additionally, Ms. Hernandez has been interviewed for and appeared on television, radio, and in print media discussing relevant wage and hour issues affecting employees in various industries subject to the FLSA and the NCWHA.
Representative Work:
Employment Wage And Hour Class Trial And Litigation
Ms. Hernandez was lead counsel in Guererro v. Pro Klean, Inc., (Mecklenburg Superior Ct), the first of its kind wage and hour class action in North Carolina, successfully tried, resulting in a plaintiffs’ verdict, awarding class member damages, liquidated damages, and attorney’s fees and costs in the amount of approximately $425,000.00 for 40 class members.
Wage And Hour Class Actions
Currently, Ms. Hernandez is co-lead counsel in Alfaro et al v. Flores Welding et al Inc., (E.D.N.C.). In September 2015, the Court certified the matter as a collective/class action pursuant to the FLSA and R.23 of the NCWHA, finding that welders and drivers alleged common illegal pay practices, involving the company’s failure to pay travel time, reimbursement for meal expenses, overtime for hours over 40, and illegal deductions from their pay due to notification requirements.
Ms. Hernandez is also co-lead counsel in Velasquez et al. v. Mi Casitas Restaurant Inc., (E.D.N.C.). On April 27, 2016, the Court certified the matter as a collective/class action pursuant to the FLSA and R.23 of NCWHA, finding that non-exempt cooks and non-server employees from a Mexican restaurant chain of 17 locations, alleged a common illegal pay practice. The company paid them a salary without any regard to their actual hours worked and failed to pay them for hours over 40. Notice to putative plaintiffs/class members, advising them of this action and their right to participate will be mailed soon. For more information, please contact us.
Ms. Hernandez was co-lead counsel in Rindfleisch et al v. Gentiva Health Services Inc., (N.D. Ga.), in which nurses and other home health care providers were held to be non-exempt because they were not paid on either a bona fide salaried or fee basis. Despite this successful summary judgment ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, the case was decertified. Nonetheless, Ms. Hernandez continues to represent close to 150 individuals, who seek their unpaid overtime.
In Cook v. Amedisys Inc., (D. Ct.), a lawsuit challenging similar practices as the Gentiva litigation, Ms. Hernandez represented approximately 2,000 nurses, physical therapists, and occupational therapists pursuing wage and hour claims against Amedisys; the case settled recently for $8 million.
Ms. Hernandez was also lead counsel against a poultry processing company, (E.D.N.C), a collective/class action pursuant to the FLSA and the NCWHA, where employees alleged that they were not paid all of their overtime and straight-time wages on their regular pay day for pre and post-shift donning/doffing activities which settled in 2012 for $1.8 million;
In Romero et al. v. Mountaire Farms, Inc., (E.D.N.C.), Ms. Hernandez represented a collective/class action pursuant to the FLSA and the NCWHA, where employees alleged that they were not paid all of their wages for hours worked, and specifically their overtime and straight-time wages on their regular pay day, in addition to, improper wage deductions.
In Horne, Harris, and Mitchell et al v. Smithfield Packing Company, Inc., (E.D.N.C.), Ms. Hernandez represented several thousand pork processing employees in three separate actions where employees alleged violations pursuant to the FLSA and the NCWHA for unpaid hours worked.
Professional Honors
In 2012, Ms. Hernandez was selected by Super Lawyers as a North Carolina “Rising Star” in Employment and Labor Law. She was also recognized for excellence, as one of North Carolina’s “Outstanding Young Lawyers in Employment and Labor Law” by Charlotte Magazine.
Professional and Community Activities
• National Employment Lawyers Association
• National Employment Law Project
• North Carolina Bar Association
• Tenth Judicial District Bar
