EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION

Ricardo Steak House

Issues: Minimum Wage, Overtime Compensation, Tip Misappropriation, Failing to Pay Agreed Upon Wages, Uniform Related Expenses, Unlawful Deductions, Wage Notices, Wage Statements

Summary:

Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit on July 16, 2015, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Ricardo LLC d/b/a Ricardo Steak House, James “Jimmy” Mateus, Edward “Eddie” Mateus, and Jonathan Surgil, (collectively, “Defendants”) who own and/or operate Ricardo Steak House in New York City. The lawsuit claims that Defendants failed to pay its Tipped Workers the appropriate minimum wage, overtime pay, and spread of hours pay as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (the “FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (the “NYLL”) and seeks damages for other statutory penalties under the NYLL.

Affected employees include any servers, busboys, runners, bartenders, cocktail waiters/waitresses, and other similarly situated Tipped Workers who work or have worked at Ricardo Steak House in New York City within the last six years.

The lawsuit alleges that Defendants failed to compensate its Tipped Workers at full minimum wage (currently $8.75 per hour) and a time and one half rate for all hours worked in excess of 40 per workweek, as required under the FLSA and the NYLL. Tipped Workers are paid a day rate, which is a pre-set amount of pay for each day of work, regardless of the amount of hours worked. Day rate compensation violates the FLSA if employees are not paid enough to cover minimum wage or work in excess of forty hours per work week. Tipped Workers often work in excess of forty hours a week, without being compensated for overtime hours as required by the FLSA and the NYLL. This is important because an employer cannot take advantage of hard working employees who work more than forty hours in a work week by failing to compensate them with time and one half pay as required by the FLSA and the NYLL. Further, the lawsuit alleges that Defendants failed to provide spread-of-hours pay to their employees. Employees who work over 10 hours in a single day, including working time plus time off for meals plus intervals off duty, are required by law to receive an additional hours pay from their employer.  The lawsuit also alleges that the owners of these establishments further violated the NYLL through its failure to provide its employees with proper wage notices and statements.

Contact Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP.

Current and former Tipped Workers at Ricardo Steak House should contact us to see if you are eligible to join the case.  For additional information, please call the employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP at (212) 300-0375 or visit our website. You can also view the complaint here.