Valle v. Gordon Chen's Kitchen LLC

254 F. Supp. 3d 665, 2017 WL 2438571, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86832
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJune 6, 2017
Docket15 Civ. 2005 (GWG)
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 254 F. Supp. 3d 665 (Valle v. Gordon Chen's Kitchen LLC) 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
Valle v. Gordon Chen's Kitchen LLC, 254 F. Supp. 3d 665, 2017 WL 2438571, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86832 (S.D.N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

GABRIEL W. GORENSTEIN, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Plaintiffs Alejandro Valle and Edgar Cid1 brought this action against Gordon Chen’s Kitchen, LLC, Mac-War Restaurant Corporation, and Allan Wartski (collectively, “defendants”) to recover unpaid wages and other damages arising out of defendants’ alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq. (“FLSA”), and the New York Labor Law, N.Y. Labor Law §§ 1 et seq. (“NYLL”). The Court held a bench trial on November 3, 2016, and has considered the parties’ submissions.2 This Opinion and Order contains the findings of fact and conclusions of law required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(a)(1).

I. BACKGROUND

In brief, plaintiffs contend that they worked for defendants’ restaurant as delivery workers and were not properly paid under federal and state labor laws. They contend that defendants improperly used a “tip credit” to calculate plaintiffs’ hourly wage instead of paying them at minimum wage; that the hourly overtime rate paid by defendants was too low; that plaintiffs worked more hours than were reflected on defendants’ records; that defendants failed to provide plaintiffs "with the notices required by the NYLL; and that defendants failed to pay them “spread of hours” pay as required by the NYLL. Pis. Pre-trial Mem. at 7-12,15.

The Court has subject matter jurisdiction over plaintiffs’ federal claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and supplemental jurisdiction over their state law claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a).

II. FACTS

A. Undisputed Facts

Gordon Chen’s Kitchen LLC operates and controls a Japanese restaurant called “Hakata Grill” at 232 East 53rd Street in New York, New York. (Cid: Tr. 8; Gar-zón: Tr. 60).3 Mac-War Restaurant Corporation previously did business as Hakata Grill at 230 West 48th Street in New York, but ceased operations on December 14, 2008.. (Cid: Tr. 29; Garzón: Tr. 60-61). Allan Wartski is the managing member of Gordon Chen’s Kitchen LLC, was the president of Mac-War Restaurant Corporation, and has been doing business through these entities as “Hakata” for over 30 years. (Wartski: Tr. 111-112). Ha-kata hired Cid in September 2008, and Valle in October 2010, to make deliveries of food orders. (Cid: Tr. 8; Valle: Tr. 37-38). Cid worked finder the name “Balverde ‘Daniel’ Lopez.” (Cid: Tr. 33; Garzón: Tr. 77). Both plaintiffs stopped working at Ha-kata in 2014. (Cid: Tr. 8; Valle: Tr. 37).

[668]*668B. Trial Testimony

1. Edgar Cid

Cid testified that before October 2011 he worked Monday to Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. (Cid: Tr. 9-10). He said that he began working only five days a week after October 2011, when the restaurant began closing on Saturdays. (Cid: Tr. 11-13).4 Cid testified that, when he started working at Hakata, he did not have to record when he came to work and when he left. (Cid: Tr. 14). That changed in 2012, at which point he had to punch numbers into a computer system to enter and to leave. (Cid: Tr. 14-15). Cid said that this was “just for a month.” (Cid: Tr. 14).

Cid testified that he was told he was paid $4.65 per hour when he first started at Hakata. (Cid: Tr. 15-16). He was not paid any supplementary pay if he worked more than 40 hours in a week. (Cid: Tr. 16). His pay increased to $5 per hour beginning in October 2010, then to $5.65 “approximately from 2012 to 2014.” (Id.). He received tips, but was never told how those tips would affect his compensation from the restaurant. (Cid: Tr. 17).

Cid testified that he was paid by check each week, which came with a slip of paper that Cid “never paid very much attention to.” (Cid: Tr. 29-30). The slip of paper could have included his number of hours worked, his hourly rate, and notations of tips and what was withheld from wages. (Cid: Tr. 31). He said that the check covered 40 hours of work, but he was regularly paid in cash for an extra 10 hours of work per week not listed on these slips of paper. (Cid: Tr. 33-34). He testified that the extra time was paid “in a different check written, payable to a different person, and then that person would cash the check and pay [him] cash, but at the regular hours.” (Cid: Tr. 33). He said that he was paid either in cash or by check at the regular hourly rate for all 50 hours. (Cid: Tr. 33-34).

Cid testified that he made approximately 22 deliveries per day. (Cid: Tr. 20). When he was not making deliveries, he performed other activities, such as purchasing and organizing food items, cleaning, and preparing soy sauce and ginger dressing. (Cid: Tr. 17-18). He spent a half-hour preparing soy sauce every day, washed utensils for half an hour per day, cleaned the floor for half an hour per day, prepared ginger sauce two times a week for a half-hour, and stocked soda for 15 minutes once per week. (Cid: Tr. 18-19).

2. Alejandro Valle

Valle testified that his starting schedule was from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., then 4:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., five days per week. (Valle: Tr. 38-39). His schedule changed in 2012, when he started working from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. (Valle: Tr. 39). At first, he did not have to record the time he came to work in the morning and left in the evening. (Valle: Tr. 38-39). “[F]or two months” in 2012, however, he had to put his arrival and departure times into a computer system. (Valle: Tr. 40).

Valle was told he would be paid $4.65 per hour when he first started, which was paid by check. (Valle: Tr. 40-41). He received checks for 40 hours of work, both delivery and non-delivery. (Valle: Tr. 50-51). He also received additional money that was “changed” for him by a coworker. (Id.). He did not remember if anything was attached to the check. (Valle: Tr. 52). His pay increased to $5 per hour in January [669]*6692011, then to $5.65 per hour in October 2012. (Valle: Tr. 41-42). He also received tips, but was never told how receiving those tips would affect his wages. (Valle: Tr. 42).

Valle made between 18 and 25 deliveries each day. (Valle: Tr. 46-47). When he was not making deliveries, he prepared salad every day for 30-40 minutes, cleaned the floor for about 45 minutes, prepared delivery bags for about 20 minutes, put deliveries from suppliers away about twice a week for about 20 minutes, and twice a week washed dishes for 30 minutes or more. (Valle: Tr. 44-45). Additionally, in 2014, Valle bought soda twice a week for a half-hour, made ginger dressing twice a week for a half-hour, and made soy sauce every day for 20-25 minutes. (Valle: Tr. 46).

3. Pedro Garzón

Garzón testified that he is a manager at Gordon Chen’s Kitchen, and had worked there and at Mac-War Restaurant for 22 years, becoming the manager in 2004. (Garzón: Tr. 60-61).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
254 F. Supp. 3d 665, 2017 WL 2438571, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86832, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/valle-v-gordon-chens-kitchen-llc-nysd-2017.