On November 19, 2014, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners of “The Palm” restaurants, including New York locations such as: “The Palm” located at 250 West 50th Street; “The Palm” located at 837 Second Avenue; “The Palm Too” located at 840 Second Avenue; “The Palm Restaurant” located at 206 West Street; “The Palm Restaurant at Huntting Inn” located at 94 Main Street; and “The Palm Bar and Grill” located at JFK Airport, International Terminal 4 on behalf of all servers, server assistants, back waiters, bussers, runners, bartenders, barbacks, and other “Tipped workers” who have worked at these restaurants.
The lawsuit alleges that the owners of these restaurants have instituted widespread unlawful policies which burden the rights of their employees and violate the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). The Plaintiff class alleges that Defendants have paid their employees a weekly paycheck below both the Federal and New York minimum wage rates. The Plaintiff class also alleges that Defendants failed to compensate their employees at a time-and-a-half rate for all hours worked in excess of 40 per workweek, as required under the FLSA and the NYLL. Additionally, they claim that Defendants utilized other methods to skim hours off their employee’s recorded work hours and otherwise maintain inaccurate time records. For instance, the Plaintiff class states that Defendants held required meetings at the beginning of morning shifts without allowing employees to clock-in and record their hours spent at the meeting. The Plaintiff class also states that these meetings were accompanied by mandatory morning meals, which employees were charged for regardless of whether or not they were actually in attendance. They also allege that Defendants required employees to be clocked out by a manager in order to receive their tips, which often meant that they ended up being clocked out prior to the completion of their work day.
The class action further claims that Defendants failed to properly utilize the NYLL or FLSA “tip credit” provision. Specifically, they claim that Defendants failed to properly notify their employees of the “tip credit” provision, or of their intent to apply a tip credit to their wages. Yet, they still paid their employees at the reduced minimum wage, which is unlawful when not properly supplemented by a “tip credit”. The Plaintiff class also claims that Defendants unlawfully misappropriated their tips. They claim that Defendants unlawfully demanded, handled, pooled, counted, distributed, accepted, and retained their tips. Additionally, they claim that Defendants unlawfully allocated tips and mandatory service charges received from private events to employees who were not entitled to tips under the FLSA and/or the NYLL, such as glass polishers.
The lawsuit alleges that Defendants failed to provide spread-of-hours pay to their employees. Employees who work over 10 hours in a single day, including working time plus time off for meals plus intervals off duty, are required by law to receive an additional hours pay from their employer. The lawsuit also alleges that the owners of these establishments further violated the NYLL through their failure to provide their employees with proper wage notices and statements. Lastly, the Plaintiff class claims that Defendants required employees to wear uniforms and forced employees to bear the costs of tailoring and cleaning those uniforms.
We are seeking to represent all servers, server assistants, back waiters, bussers, runners, bartenders, barbacks, and other “Tipped workers” who work or have worked for Defendants. Eligible employees should contact us in order to join the case. For additional information, please call the employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP at (212) 300-0375 or visit our website at www.fslawfirm.
Bravo v Palm West Corp et al_Stamped Complaint_14-CV-9193(ALC)