On July 16, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District Court for the Southern District of New York against Ricardo LLC d/b/a Ricardo Steak House. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of all servers, busboys, runners, bartenders, cocktail waiters/waitresses, and other similarly situated tipped workers (collectively, “Tipped Workers”) who work or have worked at Ricardo Steak House in New York City.
The lawsuit alleges that the owners and operators of Ricardo Steak House have instituted widespread practices and policies that violate their Tipped Workers’ rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). The lawsuit alleges that Defendants failed to compensate its Tipped Workers at full minimum wage ($8.75 per hour) and a time-and-a-half rate for all hours worked in excess of 40 per workweek, as required under the FLSA and the NYLL. Tipped Workers are paid a day rate, which is a pre-set amount of pay for each day of work. Day rate compensation violates the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) if employees are not paid enough to cover minimum wage and work in excess of forty hours per work week. Tipped Workers often work in excess of forty hours a week, without being compensated for overtime hours as required by the FLSA and the NYLL. This is important because an employer cannot take advantage of hard working employees who work more than forty hours in a work week by failing to compensate them with time and one half pay as required by the FLSA and the NYLL. Further, 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 its failure to provide its employees with proper wage notices and statements.
The employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP are strongly committed to protecting the rights of hard working employees. We are seeking to represent all servers, busboys, runners, bartenders, cocktail waiters/waitresses, and other “Tipped Workers” who work or have worked at Ricardo Steak House. Anyone who works or has worked at Ricardo Steak House should contact us in order to discuss your potential rights under the FLSA. For additional information, please call the NYC employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP at (212) 300-0375 or visit our website at www.fslawfirm.com.