Sanford Heisler Kimpel, LLP: Life Alert Turns Deaf Ear To Alarms

NEW YORK, May 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanford Heisler Kimpel, LLP today filed a $7 million lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court against Life Alert Emergency Response, Inc., maker of the emergency alert system known for late-night television commercials and its motto, "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!"  The lawsuit alleges that Life Alert fired its long-time sales manager Leon Hayblum because of his advanced age, cancer diagnosis, and in retaliation after he protested the rampant sexual harassment and willful wage-and-hour violations that he observed in Life Alert's New York City office.

"When it comes to treatment of its staff, Life Alert's motto might as well be, 'We'll knock you down, and you won't get up!'" said Jeremy Heisler, lead counsel for Mr. Hayblum and co-founder of Sanford Heisler Kimpel, LLP.  "Life Alert markets its services to the elderly and disabled, but it terminated its 71-year-old sales manager who was battling cancer because of his age, his disability, and in retaliation after he complained about unscrupulous and illegal employment practices in Life Alert's New York City office." 

According to the lawsuit, sexual harassment was rampant in Life Alert's New York City office.  The office's general manager is accused of propositioning the female staff on a regular basis.  The women who refused his advances were denied call-ins and leads for sales, were fired by the general manager, or treated so poorly that they were driven to quit.  The complaint says that Life Alert's CEO, Isaac Shepher, knew about, tolerated, and even encouraged the sexual harassment, applauding the general manager as a "Casanova" with women and dismissing victims of sexual harassment by saying, "no one is forcing them to stay." 

The lawsuit also describes how for years Life Alert has knowingly violated state wage-and-hour laws.  Mr. Hayblum, a sales manager at Life Alert, repeatedly warned Life Alert's CEO and the New York general manager that the Company was violating the law by classifying its sales representatives as "independent contractors" rather than "employees" and was risking many millions of dollars in liability that could cripple the business.  In fact, shortly before the Company fired Mr. Hayblum, it was hit with a collective action lawsuit for the wage-and-hour violations that were taking place in the New York office.

This is not the first time the Company has landed in hot water for its unscrupulous practices.  The Company has been sued for using misleading and high-pressure sales tactics to try to lure in customers.  Many former sales representatives have sued Life Alert for its wage-and-hour violations, including the collective action that is pending for violations in the New York office.

"As a Life Alert insider, Mr. Hayblum witnessed how sexual harassment and wage-and-hour violations were the Company's standard operating procedure," Mr. Heisler continued. "Mr. Hayblum repeatedly sounded the alarm, but Life Alert refused to provide an emergency response that the situation deserved.   Instead, the Life Alert silenced Mr. Hayblum by firing him."

In addition to bringing charges of discriminatory and retaliatory termination, the lawsuit sues Life Alert for breaching a written contract that it had with Mr. Hayblum.  Life Alert induced Mr. Hayblum to work as a sales manager for years by promising to pay him a substantial lump-sum payment at the conclusion of his work for the company.  Mr. Hayblum and Life Alert entered into a formal deferred compensation agreement, but after firing Mr. Hayblum, Life Alert refused to pay the amounts that it owed him. "Mr. Hayblum was counting on the contractual payment from Life Alert to support him in retirement," said Alexandra Harwin, who is co-counsel on the case with Mr. Heisler.  "Instead, Life Alert has left him completely insecure, with no job to go back to and none of the deferred compensation he was promised to draw on." 

The complaint names Life Alert, its CEO Isaac Shepher, and its New York general manager, as defendants.  Mr. Hayblum seeks damages in excess of $7 million for breach of contract and retaliation, including back-pay, front-pay, compensatory damages, liquidated damages, and punitive damages.

A jury trial is requested.

About Sanford Heisler Kimpel, LLP.

Sanford Heisler Kimpel, LLP is a national public interest class-action litigation law firm, which has offices in Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco, and San Diego.  Sanford Heisler Kimpel specializes in employment discrimination, wage and hour, qui tam, and other civil rights matters. The firm has extensive experience in complex class action litigation, having successfully represented thousands of individuals in major class action cases in the United States. The firm also represents select individual clients such as executives, lawyers in employment disputes, and whistleblowers. The firm has recovered over $1 billion for its clients.  For more information, www.sanfordheisler.com or contact Sanford Heisler Kimpel at (646) 402-5650.

For more information, contact Jamie Moss, newsPRos, 201-493-1027, Jamie@newspros.com

SOURCE Sanford Wittels & Heisler, LLP

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