Campos v. Lenmar Restaurant Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedNovember 21, 2019
Docket1:18-cv-12359
StatusUnknown

This text of Campos v. Lenmar Restaurant Inc. (Campos v. Lenmar Restaurant Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Campos v. Lenmar Restaurant Inc., (S.D.N.Y. 2019).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK VICTOR CAMPOS, Plaintiff, 18 Civ. 12359 (KPF) -v.- OPINION AND ORDER LENMAR RESTAURANT INC. and WILLIAM BRUCKMAN, Defendants. KATHERINE POLK FAILLA, District Judge: Plaintiff brings this action for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, Pub. L. No. 75-718, 52 Stat. 1060 (the “FLSA”), codified as amended at 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219, and the New York Labor Law, Consol. Laws 1909, ch. 31 (the “NYLL”) against Defendants Lenmar Restaurant Inc. (doing business as “Pietro’s”) and William Bruckman (collectively, “Defendants”). Plaintiff alleges, inter alia, that Defendants failed to pay regular and overtime wages for all hours worked; failed to pay minimum wage under the NYLL; failed to pay spread of hours compensation under the NYLL; and failed to provide proper wage notices and statements under the NYLL. Plaintiff now moves for conditional certification under § 216(b) of the FLSA and for authorization to send notice to prospective collective action members. For the reasons set forth in this Opinion, the motion for conditional certification is granted, but solely for a collective composed of current and former bussers and servers. BACKGROUND1 A. Factual Background2 Plaintiff alleges that from approximately April 2017 to November 2018,

he was employed by Defendants as a busser at Pietro’s, a restaurant located in Manhattan. (Compl. ¶ 22; Pl. Decl. ¶ 1). Plaintiff alleges that “[a]t all relevant times, Defendants … engaged in a policy and practice of failing to pay Plaintiff … for all hours worked due to time shaving.” (Compl. ¶ 46). Further, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants “engaged in a policy and practice of failing to pay the minimum wage in the lawful amount,” because “Defendants were not entitled to claim [a] tip credit allowance.” (Id. at ¶ 47). In addition to the above, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants “fail[ed]” to pay … the spread-of-hours

premium for workdays exceeding ten hours” (id. at ¶ 57); “failed to provide proper wage and hour notices” (id. at ¶ 59); and “failed to provide proper wage statements” (id. at ¶ 60).

1 The facts in this Opinion are drawn from Plaintiff’s Complaint (“Compl.” (Dkt. #1)), and Plaintiff’s declaration in support of the pending motion (“Pl. Decl.” (Dkt. #24)). For ease of reference, the Court refers to Plaintiff’s opening brief as “Pl. Br.” (Dkt. #23); Defendants’ opposition brief as “Def. Opp.” (Dkt. #28); and Plaintiff’s reply brief as “Pl. Reply” (Dkt. #29). 2 Plaintiff bears the burden on a Section 216(b) motion. Accordingly, the Court focuses primarily on Plaintiff’s account of the facts at this stage of the litigation. See Myers v. Hertz Corp., 624 F.3d 537, 555 (2d Cir. 2010) (describing the “modest factual showing” needed for a motion for conditional certification). The Court “grant[s] the plaintiff the benefit of the doubt given the posture of this motion.” Williams v. Movage Inc., No. 17 Civ. 2628 (KPF), 2018 WL 1940435, at *1 n.2 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 24, 2018) (quoting Mendoza v. Ashiya Sushi 5, Inc., No. 12 Civ. 8629 (KPF), 2013 WL 5211839, at *1 n.1 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 16, 2013)). By contrast, the Court does not consider the factual assertions contained in Defendants’ opposition brief or declarations filed in support thereto. See Escobar v. Motorino E. Vill. Inc., No. 14 Civ. 6760 (KPF), 2015 WL 4726871, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 10, 2015) (quoting Bhumithanarn v. 22 Noodle Market Corp., No. 14 Civ. 2625 (RJS), 2015 WL 4240985, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. July 13, 2015)). Plaintiff claims that throughout his employment with Defendants, he regularly worked 63.5 hours per week: from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., with a 30- minute lunch break, five days a week, and from 3:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with a

30-minute lunch break, one day a week. (Compl. ¶ 23; Pl. Decl. ¶ 4). And yet, Plaintiff claims, he was not compensated for all the hours that he worked. (Pl. Decl. ¶ 6). Although Plaintiff was supposed to be given a full one-hour lunch break during his workdays, he “was regularly required to work after taking only 30-minutes of break time every day.” (Id.). Despite this, “Defendants indiscriminately and automatically deducted [one] hour from my hours worked on each workday.” (Id.). In addition, Plaintiff was required to start work at 9:30 a.m. five days a week, despite being told by Defendant William Bruckman

that he would not be paid for any work prior to 10:00 a.m. (Id. at ¶ 9). Plaintiff alleges that these time-shaving and off-the-clock work policies caused him to be consistently underpaid every week. (Id. at ¶ 11). “The number of work hours reflected on [employees’] paystubs were always a round whole number, like 36.00 or 40.00, which was unrealistic and untrue, and significantly less than [the employees’] actual number of hours worked each week.” (Id.). On top of all of this, Plaintiff “was never paid the spread-of-hours premium despite having workdays that exceeded ten hours on a regular basis.” (Id. at ¶ 14).

Plaintiff claims that from the beginning of his employment to December 2017, he was paid at a base hourly rate of $7.50 per hour, and that from January 2018 until the end of his employment, he was paid at a base hourly rate of $8.65 per hour. Both of these rates reflect the discounted tip credit minimum wage rates for their respective periods. (Pl. Decl. ¶ 2). However, Plaintiff alleges that he was required throughout his employment to spend more than half of his work time engaging in non-tip-related activities, “such as

cleaning the refrigerator and kitchen; throwing out garbage; stocking inventory; cleaning the restaurant; assisting dishwashers …; drying and polishing silverware; storing clean dishes; [and] assisting the barista with his work.” (Id. at ¶ 13). Moreover, Plaintiff “did not receive proper notice regarding Defendants’ tip credit deduction.” (Id. at ¶ 12). Plaintiff brings this action “on behalf of all non-exempt persons,” which he defines to include “cooks, line-cooks, food preparers, dishwashers, porters, waiters, runners, bussers, and bartenders,” and potentially others, who were

employed at Pietro’s during the last six years. (Compl. ¶ 11). In general, Plaintiff claims that each of these non-managerial employees, regardless of position, was subject to the same treatment as Plaintiff regarding wages and hours. (See Pl. Decl. ¶¶ 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12-16). Plaintiff alleges that he observed and spoke with 12 different workers, the bulk of whom were bussers and servers, but three of whom were kitchen staff. (See id. at ¶ 3). Plaintiff “regularly spoke” with servers and bussers such as Valerio Santo, Julio Quenca, and an individual known only as “Jordan,” “who were very upset

because they were only able to take a 30-minute meal break before returning to work, but Defendants always deducted the full 1-hour meal time from their wages.” (Id. at ¶ 8). Plaintiff also describes telling Carlos Pina, a server, that Plaintiff was not being paid for all of his hours and was not receiving a spread- of-hours premium. (Id. at ¶ 10). Pina allegedly responded “that he was well aware of Defendants’ policies … because he too was never paid the full hourly wage.” (Id.). Plaintiff alleges that Pina, Santo, and Quenca all told him, “[N]o

one is paid the full pay at Pietro’s.” (Id.). Plaintiff and Pina often spoke about how they “work for free every day.” (Id.). Plaintiff claims that on pay day, he “observed several of [his] co-workers talking about their paystubs, and frequently complaining that they were missing many hours on their paystubs and paycheck.” (Id. at ¶ 11).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. v. Sperling
493 U.S. 165 (Supreme Court, 1990)
Myers v. Hertz Corp.
624 F.3d 537 (Second Circuit, 2010)
Laroque v. Domino's Pizza, LLC
557 F. Supp. 2d 346 (E.D. New York, 2008)
Patton v. Thomson Corp.
364 F. Supp. 2d 263 (E.D. New York, 2005)
Cunningham v. Electronic Data Systems Corp.
754 F. Supp. 2d 638 (S.D. New York, 2010)
Gjurovich v. Emmanuel's Marketplace, Inc.
282 F. Supp. 2d 101 (S.D. New York, 2003)
Lynch v. United Services Automobile Ass'n
491 F. Supp. 2d 357 (S.D. New York, 2007)
Sharma v. Burberry Ltd.
52 F. Supp. 3d 443 (E.D. New York, 2014)
Zaldivar v. JMJ Caterers, Inc.
166 F. Supp. 3d 310 (E.D. New York, 2016)
Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc.
811 F.3d 528 (Second Circuit, 2015)
Winfield v. Citibank, N.A.
843 F. Supp. 2d 397 (S.D. New York, 2012)
McGlone v. Contract Callers, Inc.
867 F. Supp. 2d 438 (S.D. New York, 2012)
Trinidad v. Pret A Manger (USA) Ltd.
962 F. Supp. 2d 545 (S.D. New York, 2013)
Young v. Cooper Cameron Corp.
229 F.R.D. 50 (S.D. New York, 2005)
Mentor v. Imperial Parking Systems, Inc.
246 F.R.D. 178 (S.D. New York, 2007)
Bifulco v. Mortgage Zone, Inc.
262 F.R.D. 209 (E.D. New York, 2009)
Valerio v. RNC Industries, LLC
314 F.R.D. 61 (E.D. New York, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Campos v. Lenmar Restaurant Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/campos-v-lenmar-restaurant-inc-nysd-2019.