Eve Hill, a partner at Brown, Goldstein & Levy and a leading civil rights lawyer, provided critical analysis in a recent Law360 article by Max Kutner titled “Analysis: 5 Wage Priorities In The Democrats’ 2024 Platform.” The article described the Democratic Party’s plans to prioritize a federal minimum wage increase, establish a national paid leave program, end subminimum wages, boost wage enforcement and expand prevailing wage incentives.
Eve was included specifically for her insight on unfair labor practices for people with disabilities by way of subminimum wage practices. While the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes national minimum wage and overtime pay, it does not benefit all employees in the country. The FLSA’s Section 14c allows employers to apply for a certificate allowing them to pay unfair subminimum wages to Americans with disabilities.
Section 14c impacts approximately 50,000 people with disabilities, 51 percent of whom are paid less than $3.50 per hour. The majority of 14c employers do not comply with applicable minimal FLSA requirements, leading to millions of dollars in wages that have not been paid to employees with disabilities. The Law360 article commented on a growing movement of advocates who are against the 14c program, with many states banning employers from applying for 14c certificates.
“We really are feeling a wave across the country of states and local governments and people recognizing that subminimum wage is not the right way to go,” Eve told Law360.
Eve, one of the nation’s leading disability rights attorneys, has long been a fierce advocate for the workplace rights of employees with disabilities. She has worked closely on the issue of subminimum wages as a partner with Brown, Goldstein & Levy, as well as the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Bazelon Center. “Now is the time for us – all of us – to work to end subminimum wages once and for all,” Eve wrote in a previous blog article on the topic.
Eve has been recognized by Law360 as one of just 12 “Titans of the Plaintiffs’ Bar” for 2023, as well as by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2022 and 2023). Her wide-ranging experience complements Brown, Goldstein & Levy’s decades of dedication to high-impact disability rights cases and its advocacy on behalf of individuals with disabilities and their families. Eve also leads Inclusivity, BGL’s Strategic Consulting Group, which works with organizations to promote the education, engagement, and employment of people with disabilities.
Learn more about Eve’s disability rights practice here.
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Founded in 1982, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a law firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, with an office in Washington, DC. The firm is nationally recognized in a wide variety of practice areas, including complex civil and commercial litigation, civil rights, health care, family law, and criminal defense. Above all else, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a client-centered law firm that brings decades of experience and passionate, effective advocacy to your fight for justice.