Collective Action Over Allegedly Improper Wages Hits NY Mexican Eatery

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New York Mexican eatery El Puerto de Acapulco Bar and Restaurant, along with its two owners, are facing claims from a woman who was employed by the defendants as a bartender and later as a waitress. The proposed collective action claims the women was ostensibly employed as a server, but had to spend several hours each day cleaning, preparing food, and stocking the fridge – tasks that workers generally aren’t tipped for. The suit charges that because 20-plus percent of her day encompassed these additional, non-tipped tasks, the defendants were not entitled to take a tip credit. From the suit:

“Defendants employed the policy and practice of disguising Plaintiff Espinoza’s actual duties in payroll records to avoiding paying…the minimum wage rate, and to enable them to pay Plaintiff...at the lower tip-credit rate.”

The suit also claims the defendants failed to keep accurate records regarding the number of hours its employees worked and failed to pay spread of hours wages in accordance with New York labor law.