Cherry Valley Supermarket Bagged with FLSA Class Action

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A former employee has filed a proposed class action claiming defendant Hermana Mirabal Inc., which does business as Cherry Valley Supermarket, and its owner failed to pay him and proposed class members proper minimum and overtime wages. Specifically, the plaintiff alleges that he was on the books as a delivery worker, instead of as a non-tipped employee, so that the defendant could pay him below the minimum wage required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

According to the case, the defendant illegally took a tip credit on the plaintiff’s wages to which it was not entitled. The plaintiff, who was employed by the defendants ostensibly as a delivery worker, claims he was forced to spend “a considerable part of his work day” performing non-tipped, non-delivery related tasks. The lawsuit argues the defendant was ineligible to take a tip credit on the man’s pay because his non-tipped duties allegedly exceeded more than 20 percent of each workday.

From the lawsuit:

“Upon information and belief, [the defendants] employed the policy and practice of disguising [the plaintiff’s] actual duties in payroll records to avoid paying him at the minimum wage rate and to enable them to pay him at a rate that was below the minimum wage rate by designating him as a delivery worker instead of a non-tipped employee.”