On Thursday, July 07, 2016, Fitapelli & Schaffer LLP filed a class action wage lawsuit against Rosa Mexicana, a Michelin rated restaurant serving upscale Mexican inspired dishes with 17 locations worldwide. This lawsuit seeks to recover minimum wages, overtime pay, call-in pay, and other wages for Plaintiffs and their similarly situated co-workers – servers, bussers, bartenders, food runners, barbacks and other “tipped workers” – who work or have worked at Rosa Mexicano restaurants nationwide with the exception of Rosa Mexicano restaurants located in California and Minnesota. The lawsuit asserts that the affected Rosa Mexicano employees were wrongfully denied their lawfully earned wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the New York Labor Law (NYLL) and the Massachusetts Wage Laws.
The lawsuit specifically alleges that Rosa Mexicano willfully failed and refused to pay its tipped workers the required minimum and overtime wages for all hours worked. The lawsuit also alleges that they failed to properly distribute tips. Tipped workers at the affected Rosa Mexicano locations were asked to share tips with ineligible workers called “floaters”. These floaters are responsible for restaurant upkeep and complete activities such as polishing silverware, polishing plate and glass ware, rolling silverware, cleaning the dishwasher area, cleaning dirty dish service stations, cleaning the bathrooms, cleaning cabinets, vacuuming the floors, cleaning the restaurant’s office, throwing out the garbage, and taking dirty linens to the restaurants’ laundry room. Floaters have virtually no customer interaction and as a result, the lawsuit alleges that they are not entitled to share tips under the FLSA, NYLL, or the MA Wage Laws. Other alleged violations included failing to properly provide call-in pay, failing to provide proper wage notices, and failing to provide accurate wage statements.
The goal of the named plaintiffs in this matter is to bring this lawsuit as a class meaning that they argue that Rosa Mexicano instituted corporate-wide policies and practices that affected all employees similarly, and that the company benefited from the same type of unfair and/or wrongful acts as to each affected individual. Such a class action treatment will permit a large number of similarly situated persons to prosecute their common claims in a single forum simultaneously and efficiently.
If you or anyone you know is a current or former server, busser, bartender, food runner, barback or other “tipped worker” with Rosa Mexicano, please contact the employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP to schedule a free consultation and to see if you are eligible to join this wage lawsuit. We are strongly committed to protecting the rights of hard working employees. You can contact us by calling (212) 300-0375 or by visiting our website at www.fslawfirm.com. You can also view the complaint here.