Ifeoma R. Nwosu
Associate
Ifeoma advises employers on wage-and-hour compliance, handbooks and separations, and represents employees in discrimination, harassment and unpaid-wage claims.
Practice Area
Employment & Labor Law in Woodside, NY
New York gives employees some of the strongest protections in the country — and gives employers a compliance burden to match. We work on both sides of that line, in separate matters.
Wage-and-hour law is where good employers most often get into trouble without meaning to: a misclassified contractor, an unpaid spread-of-hours premium, a missing wage notice. And it is where employees most often lose money they are owed without realizing it.
Ifeoma Nwosu advises Queens employers on staying compliant, and represents employees in discrimination, harassment and unpaid-wage claims. Which side we are on in a given matter is decided by a conflict check, never by who called first.
Free initial consultation.
Thirty minutes with the attorney who would handle the matter — not an intake screener. Call 000-000-000 or send us the details through the contact form.
How we help
Employment & Labor services
Unpaid wages & overtime
Minimum wage, overtime, spread-of-hours, tip credit and misclassification claims under the FLSA and NYLL.
Discrimination & harassment
Claims under Title VII, the NYS Human Rights Law and the broader NYC Human Rights Law.
Wrongful termination & retaliation
Retaliation for complaints, whistleblowing and protected leave.
Severance agreement review
Reviewing and negotiating what you are being asked to release, before the deadline in the letter.
Employer compliance
Handbooks, wage notices, classification audits, and NY sexual harassment prevention training requirements.
Restrictive covenants
Non-compete, non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements — drafting and challenging.
When to call us
Situations we handle every week
- You have not been paid for hours you worked, or paid straight time for overtime.
- You were fired after complaining about something.
- You have been handed a severance agreement and 21 days to sign it.
- You are an employer classifying workers as independent contractors.
- You are being asked to sign a non-compete.
If you are not sure whether your situation belongs on that list, call anyway. Telling you that you do not need a lawyer is free, and we would rather do that than take a matter that should not exist.
Attorneys in this practice
Questions
Employment & Labor — frequently asked
My employer pays me in cash. Do I still have wage rights?
Yes. Being paid off the books does not remove your right to minimum wage, overtime or the wage statements New York requires — and the absence of proper records generally works against the employer, not the employee. Your own contemporaneous notes of hours worked can be enough to bring a claim.
Is my non-compete enforceable in New York?
New York courts enforce restrictive covenants only where they are reasonable in duration and geography, necessary to protect a legitimate employer interest, and not unduly burdensome. Many agreements presented to employees are drafted far more broadly than a court would enforce. It is worth having yours read.
Should I sign the severance agreement?
Not before someone reads it. Severance agreements release claims — sometimes claims worth considerably more than the severance. The payment terms, the release scope, the non-disparagement clause and the reference language are all commonly negotiable, and the deadline in the letter is usually longer than it looks.
Speak with a employment & labor attorney
Tell us what is going on. The first consultation is free, it is with the attorney who would handle your matter, and there is no obligation afterwards.