In a July 18, 2025 article, we discussed an amendment to New York Labor Law (NYLL) §191 (now codified at NYLL §191(1)(a)) that eliminated liquidated damages in cases involving the late payment of wages for manual workers if certain conditions are met. These conditions are that the employer must not have been previously found to have violated the law, and that the employees were paid at least semi-monthly.
The amendment expressly states that it applies retroactively to cases pending at the time of the amendment. In the first case we are aware of to address these issues, a federal court has now held that the amendment comports with the New York State Constitution and applies retroactively to bar claims under §191(1) where the above conditions have been satisfied.