Immigration Law Firm Accused Of Using Illegal Noncompetes By Collin Krabbe · Law360 (February 22, 2023, 11:30 PM EST) -- A Washington-based immigration law firm was hit with a proposed class action in Illinois federal court from two former employees alleging the firm forced low-wage workers to sign illegal noncompete agreements, misclassified workers to avoid paying overtime premiums and recorded employees' conversations without consent. Karla Velazquez and Ilse Sanchez, who worked as a legal assistant and a paralegal, respectively, at Alexandra Lozano Immigration Law PLLC, said that they both entered into covenants as a condition of their employment, promising not to provide similar services for a year after leaving the firm, in an alleged violation of Washington state law prohibiting the use of noncompete agreements for employees making less than $100,000 per year. "The defendants continue to require their low wage workers to sign a noncompete agreement. As a condition of employment, each of the plaintiffs and Immigration Law entered into [non-compete agreements]," Sanchez and Velazquez said in their Tuesday complaint filed in Illinois federal court. The firm says on its website that it has offices in Washington, Illinois, California, San Antonio and Houston. Velazquez and Sanchez, who worked at the firm for seven and 12 weeks, respectively, also alleged that the firm and its manager Alexandra Lozano placed recording devices throughout their office locations, using them to record private communications of people in their office space, including employees. "Plaintiffs and their colleagues were unaware that their every private conversation and communication were being recorded," they said. Sanchez, who held various titles, including client care specialist and senior paralegal, also accused the firm and Lozano of misclassifying her as an exempt employee to avoid paying overtime in an alleged violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The lawsuit aims to represent a class of people who worked at the firm on or after the start of 2020, earned less than $100,000 annually and entered into a noncompete agreement with the firm. Furthermore, Sanchez proposed an overtime class of people who worked at the firm in the last three years, were paid in part on salary and had the title of client care specialist, paralegal, legal assistant, or manager. "Defendants failed to pay plaintiff Ilse Sanchez proper overtime wages of one and one-half times her regular rate of pay for all hours worked over forty hours in a workweek," Sanchez said. The suit also proposed a class of people who worked at Lozano's firm on or after Feb. 21, 2021, and whose communications were recorded without consent. Lozano, who the suit says is also the star of a show called "Tacos y Tequila" on YouTube, is personally liable for the overtime violations identified, the suit said. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Finally, Sanchez said the firm posted her photo on social media and used it for marketing without her permission. Sanchez and Vasquez are represented by M. Nieves Bolaños and David J. Fish of Fish Potter Bolaños PC. Counsel information for Alexandra Lozano Immigration Law was not immediately available. The case is Sanchez et al. v. Lozano et al., case number 1:23-cv-01028, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Yes. A friend just sent me Link re a lawsuit by 2 employees