Two complaints filed this week presented putative class action claims on behalf of former campaign field organizers hired by former New York City mayor and presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg. The first complaint claims that the staffers were promised employment through the November 2020 presidential election (even if Bloomberg dropped out of the race), but were then terminated shortly after the March 4, 2020 “Super Tuesday” primaries.
The second complaint describes the situation as follows:
Michael Bloomberg and his campaign made a promise. They promised thousands of loyal, hardworking staffers that they would have a job in both the primary and general elections, and the opportunity to work to fight and defeat Donald Trump in November. They promised salaries nearly double that of other campaigns. And they pledged to keep this promise regardless of whether Bloomberg won the Democratic nomination. Thousands of people relied on that promise. They moved to other cities. They gave up school, jobs, and job opportunities. They uprooted their lives.
But the promise was false. After Bloomberg lost the Democratic nomination, his campaign unceremoniously dumped thousands of staffers, leaving them with no employment, no income, and no health insurance. And, worse still, the Bloomberg campaign did this during the worst global pandemic since 1918, in the face of a looming economic crisis. Now thousands of people who relied on the Bloomberg campaign’s promise are left to fend for themselves. In this lawsuit, the plaintiffs seek to hold the Bloomberg campaign accountable for the false promises that it made and thereby protect the economic security of over 2,000 working families at a uniquely precarious time in the nation’s history.
The first complaint contains a claim for unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as a state law claims for fraudulent inducement and breach of contract. The second complaint contains claims for fraudulent inducement and promissory estoppel.
The cases are currently pending before Judge Schofield and Judge Carter respectively.