Fitapelli & Schaffer has filed a class and collective action lawsuit against three restaurants in New York City for failing to pay proper wages: Emporio, Aurora Soha and Aurora Williamsburg.  We allege tipped employees, such as waiters, servers, bussers, barbacks and bartenders were not paid full minimum wage, overtime when they worked over 40 hours per week and spread of hours when they worked over 10 hours per shift.  We also allege that ineligible employees (Floor captains) participated in the tip pool.  We are seeking to represent all workers employed by Emporio and Aurora restaurants over the past six years.  Eligible employees should call us to join the case, as there is a running statute of limitations.

On April 24, 2012, Fitapelli & Schaffer filed a class and collective action lawsuit against Gusto Restaurant in New York City.  The lawsuit alleges Gusto failed to pay their employees minimum wage, overtime, gratuities and spread of hours to servers, bussers, runners, bartenders, barbacks, dishwashers, salad and pasta preparers.  Since we filed the lawsuit, additional workers have joined the case.  We will seek to represent all eligible workers who have been employed by Gusto over the past six years.

Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP recently filed a class and collective action lawsuit against Andres Carne De Tres, a very popular Columbian restaurant in Woodside, Queens.  We allege tipped employees were not paid minimum wage, overtime, spread of hours, gratuities and service charges.  To make matters worse, our client was paid only $30 no matter how many hours worked per shift.  We are seeking to have all current and formers waiters, bussers and bartenders join the case.

Fitapelli & Schaffer recently filed a class action lawsuit against Astoria Brewhouse, a very popular night spot in Astoria, Queens.  The lawsuit alleges unpaid wages, consisting of minimum wage, overtime, spread of hours and failure to pay gratuities.  We are seeking to have the case certified as a class action, where we would represent all tipped employees who have worked at the restaurant over the past six years.  Employees are usually unaware that they must be paid full minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 per hour.  Also, if an employee works over 40 hours per week, they are entitled to be paid time and one half of their hourly rate.  In a restaurant case, managers, expediters and kitchen employees cannot receive tips.  Restaurant employees who are not being paid properly should contact us for a free consultation.

Fitapelli & Schaffer filed a collective action lawsuit against Uncle George’s Greek Tavern in Astoria, New York for failing to pay minimum wage, overtime and spread of hours to tipped employees and kitchen workers over the past three years.  Unfortunately, these violations are commonplace at restaurants in New York City.  Employees should be aware that they may be entitled to double damages for wage violations.

Fitapelli & Schaffer filed a class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York, against Benjamin Steakhouse, an upscale steakhouse in Manhattan.  The restaurant is owned by Alban “Benjamin” Prelvukaj, a former employee of Peter Luger.  We allege that our client and similarly situated hourly, tipped employees, such as servers, bussers and bartenders were not paid full minimum wage and overtime for all the hours they worked.  Even though tipped employees clocked in and out for every shift, their paychecks grossly underestimated the hours they actually worked.  We also allege that tipped employees are entitled to full minimum wage, rather than the reduced minimum wage, because the tip pool included non-tip eligible employees, such as glass polishers and silver polishers.  If somebody worked for Benjamin Steakhouse within the past 6 years, they should contact Fitapelli & Schaffer to join the case.

1. Minimum Wage- Employees should have been paid $7.25 per hour and should have been compensated for having to arrive at work 15 minutes before the start of their shift and for all work performed after they punched out at the end of their shift;

2. Overtime- Employees should have been paid $10.86 if they worked over 40 hours per week;

3. Misappropriated tips- Employees should not have been required to tip-out the Silver Polisher and Dishwasher;

4. Uniform Maintenance Pay- Employees should have been reimbursed for dry cleaning their dark brown blazer;

5. Spread of Hours- Employees should have been paid one extra hour at $7.25 if they worked over 10 hours in one day.

Scanned Complaint – 11 CV 8345 (NRB)

Fitapelli & Schaffer is pleased to announce that Judge Colleen McMahon of the United States District Court, Southern District of New York has approved a collective action notice which will be sent to all tipped employees who worked for the two Flute Bars in New York City during the past three years.  If someone fills out and sends back the form, they will become a plaintiff in the case and will be eligible to share in any settlement, which may include double damages.  We assert that Flute failed to pay full minimum wage ($7.25), overtime ($10.87) if an employee worked over 40 hours per week and distributed tips to non-tip eligible employees, such as managers and party planners.  These are frequent unpaid wage violate in the restaurant industry in New York City.