Lawsuit Alleges Delmonico Gourmet Food Market Failed to Pay Proper Wages

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The operators of New York City’s Delmonico Gourmet Food Market face a proposed collective action in which a former employee claims he and other workers were not paid proper wages.

The 15-page lawsuit out of New York claims workers at the East 59^th Street food market were paid less than the minimum wage and did not receive proper overtime pay when they worked more than 40 hours per week. Per the case, Delmonico’s pay practices benefited the defendants financially at the expense of employees.

“Defendants acted in the manner described herein so as to maximize their profits while minimizing their labor costs,” the complaint alleges.

The plaintiff says he worked for the defendants between 2013 and July 2019 and was responsible for preparing and delivering food, stocking merchandise, cleaning, fixing the lights and dishwasher and “other things as they came up.” Throughout his employment, the plaintiff was paid $6.00 per hour, “or whatever the tip credit hourly cash rate was at the time,” according to the suit. The lawsuit alleges the defendants improperly applied a tip credit to the plaintiff’s wages despite not meeting the law’s requirements for doing so.

“At all times relevant, Plaintiff was entitled to receive the fully [sic] statutory minimum wage rate for the first 40 hours of work each week,” the complaint charges.

The case goes on to claim the plaintiff typically worked as many as 66 hours or more per week without being paid at the proper time-and-a-half overtime rate. According to the complaint, the plaintiff either received his subminimum tip credited rate or was paid at one-and-one-half times that amount for every hour worked over 40 each week.

Per the lawsuit, the defendants also failed to pay the plaintiff and other workers spread of hours wages when they worked more than 10 hours in one day and provide proper wage statements that reflected their hours and pay rates.

The suit looks to cover anyone who works or worked for defendants Zion Farm LLC and Eastern Farms, Inc. as non-managerial employees during the applicable statute of limitations period.

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