Plaintiff alleges former employers violated labor laws

Gabriela Gonzalez, a former nanny and housekeeper, has filed a lawsuit against her previous employers for allegedly violating federal and state labor laws. The complaint was lodged in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 17, 2026, naming Lindsay McGuire and Roy Simkhay as defendants. Gonzalez claims that her employers failed to pay overtime wages, provide paid sick days, offer paid rest days, issue wage notices, and deliver accurate pay statements during her employment.

Gonzalez worked for McGuire and Simkhay from January 2018 through November 2024, with a brief hiatus between June 2021 and September 2022. During this time, she often worked over 40 hours per week without receiving the legally mandated overtime pay. For instance, between March and July 2020, she resided in their home working up to 108.5 hours weekly but was underpaid compared to the agreed amount. “Defendants did not pay Ms. Gonzalez overtime wages of at least one-and-a-half times the regular rate of pay,” the complaint states.

The plaintiff also accuses her former employers of neglecting to provide three paid days of rest annually—a requirement under New York law for domestic workers—and failing to compensate her for sick days taken when attending to family medical emergencies. In March 2019, when Gonzalez requested time off due to her husband’s surgery, she was only granted one unpaid day off despite needing more time for his recovery.

Gonzalez’s legal action seeks compensation for unpaid wages across several categories: overtime work beyond standard hours both as a residential and non-residential employee; sick leave; and rest days not compensated as required by law. Additionally, she demands statutory damages due to the absence of wage notices and pay statements that concealed ongoing wage violations from her.

The case is being handled by attorneys Robert D. McCreanor from his own law office in Hawthorne, NY, and Benjamin Locke from Catholic Migration Services in Sunnyside, NY. The court case ID is Case No.: 26-cv-1336.