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 ...
Continue Reading →20 NOV
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 Souen Soho, Souen Noodle, and Souen 13 (the “Souen Restaurants”) on behalf of all food preparers, salad preparers, dishwashers, pantry workers, food packagers, servers, bussers, delivery persons, and other “Non-Exempt workers” who have worked at these restaurants.
The lawsuit alleges that the owners of these restaurants have instituted widespread unlawful policies ...
Continue Reading →14 NOV
Recently, a class action lawsuit filed in 2009 against the Midtown strip club Rick’s Cabaret has resulted in the return of over $10 million dollars in back wages to the club’s current and former dancers and entertainers. Rick’s Cabaret instituted a policy by which it refused to pay its dancers and entertainers any wages whatsoever, and even charged its dancers $60 per shift. Rick’s Cabaret also collected 2 of every 20 “Dance Dollars” that dancers received through credit card payments ...
Continue Reading →12 NOV
Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit on November 12, 2014, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners of “Tolani”, located at 410 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10024, on behalf of all bartenders, barbacks, servers, bussers, runners, line cooks, food preparers, dishwashers, and other “Non-Exempt Workers” who have worked there.
The lawsuit alleges that the owners of this restaurant have instituted widespread policies in violation of the Fair Labor ...
Continue Reading →12 NOV
Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit on November 12, 2014, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners of “SideBAR”, the Union Square location of “Little Town”, “Village Pourhouse”,“Hudson Terrace”, “Tres Carnes”, and “House of ‘Que” (the “Defendants”), on behalf of all servers, bussers, runners, bartenders, barbacks, and other “tipped workers” who have worked at either of these locations.
The lawsuit alleges that the owners of these restaurants have instituted ...
Continue Reading →4 NOV
Recently, the United States District Court for the Western District of New York denied Defendant Crab Addison, Inc.’s (“Crab Addison”) motion to dismiss a Plaintiff class’s minimum-wage claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) alleging that Defendants paid the Plaintiff class less than the full required minimum wage pursuant to a “tip credit”, while having them spend a significant amount of time performing non-tipped duties. In its prior decision, the Court granted Defendant’s motion to dismiss the FLSA minimum-wage ...
Continue Reading →25 AUG
Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit on August 22, 2014, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Jacques Restaurant Group on behalf of all line cooks, food preparers, dishwashers, servers, bussers, runners, bartenders, and cooks (“Restaurant Workers”) who work or have worked at Jacques Brasserie located at 204 East 85th Street, New York, New York, Jacques 1534 located at 20 Prince Street, New York, New York, or The Pitch & ...
Continue Reading →30 JUL
On July 30, 2014, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against Leros Point to Point, Inc. Leros Management, Inc. and its owners John Nyikos, Jeffrey Nyikos, and Christopher Nyikos (collectively “Leros”). The lawsuit alleges that Leros failed to pay its chauffeurs the appropriate overtime compensation as required under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law. The lawsuit also seeks to recover misappropriated service charges, unpaid commissions, ...
Continue Reading →24 JUL
On July 23, 2014, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit against Roughlock LLC d/b/a Black Door and Steeplechase, Inc. d/b/a as Park Bar (collectively, the “Defendants” or the “Bars”) alleging that that Defendants failed to pay bartenders the proper minimum wages, overtime pay, and spread-of-hours pay as required under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). Additionally, the suit seeks to recover damages related to unlawful wage deductions, misappropriated gratuities, failure ...
Continue Reading →14 JUL
In a case of first impression in the Third Circuit, a Middle District of Pennsylvania Court held that expediters at the Red Robin restaurant chain did not fall within the definition of “tipped employees” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Ford v. Lehigh Valley Restaurant Group, Inc., No. 14-cv-227. The case revolves around the interpretation of 29 U.S.C. § 203(m), which allows “the pooling of tips among employees who customarily and regularly receive tips.” Defendant Red Robin instituted a ...
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