A golf club once called “America’s snootiest” doesn’t pay its caddies proper wages for their work, according to a proposed class action complaint. The named plaintiff, a caddy, alleges that the Long Island Golf Club, National Golf Links of America, only paid the caddies for the time they spent actually carrying bags even though he worked as many as 70 hours in a given week. Besides carrying golf bags, they were also expected to do other tasks, including cleaning and folding towels, vacuuming the locker room, cleaning toilets, and washing golf carts, according to the complaint. The complaint also alleged that If they showed up to the course and no golfers hired them, they weren’t paid at all.
The prestigious golf course requires its members to walk the links rather than use golf carts, which necessitates caddies to help carry clubs and maintain the course.
The complaint claims the National’s behavior violates the spread of hours pay rule in New York, which says that employees who work more than 10 hours in a given day are required to be paid for an extra hour based on the minimum wage in Suffolk County. The caddies aren’t paid any fixed wages at all, according to the suit. According to the complaint, the National classifies their caddies as neither employee nor independent contractor
The case is Rodriguez v. National Golf Links of America et al., case number 2:19-cv-07052, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
This blog is intended to provide information to the general public and to practitioners about developments that may impact Oregon class actions.
