Lawsuit Contends Gregorys Coffee Scheduling, Pay Practices Violated NY Labor Law

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A proposed class and collective action claims Gregorys Coffee Management LLC has violated federal, state and city labor laws by failing to provide proper notice and management of employees’ schedules and pay the workers for off-the-clock work, among other alleged conduct.

The 21-page lawsuit cites alleged violations of the New York City Fair Workweek Law, which requires fast food employers to provide workers with advance notice of predictable schedules, sufficient time between closing and opening shifts and “pathways to full-time employment.”

Moreover, the case alleges Gregorys Coffee, who operates over 30 coffee shops in the Northeast, has run afoul of the New York Labor Law and federal Fair Labor Standards Act by requiring employees to work off-the-clock at the end of their shifts and providing wage statements that omit required information.

The two plaintiffs claim to have been employed as baristas at several of the defendant’s New York City locations through January 2020. Per the case, Gregorys failed to provide the plaintiffs and other workers with “a good faith estimate” of what their schedules would look like when they were first hired and thereafter failed to provide written work schedules at least 14 days in advance. The plaintiffs argue that Gregorys did not post their schedules within the workplace or otherwise provide them to employees in electronic or written form. Moreover, the defendant frequently changed workers’ schedules “at the last minute” and failed to pay them schedule-change premiums in accordance with the city’s Fair Workweek Law, according to the complaint.

The case goes on to allege that Gregorys unlawfully required employees to work a “clopening,” i.e., two shifts with less than 11 hours in between them, without the workers’ consent or a $100 payment for each shift. For example, the two plaintiffs say they attended store meetings and handled deep cleanings until 10:00 p.m. at least once a month and were then required to report to work at 6:00 a.m. the next day.

Further, the lawsuit claims Gregorys failed to inform workers of the details of newly available shifts, “including whether the shifts are recurring and how to express interest in picking them up,” before hiring new employees to work those shifts.

Aside from the alleged city law violations, the case claims Gregorys overstepped both state and federal law by knowingly allowing and requiring workers to clock out and continue working when their weekly hours began to approach 40. Per the suit, this practice was the result of the defendant’s attempt to avoid paying overtime wages by writing up employees who put in more than 40 hours per week.

Finally, the lawsuit claims the defendant provided paystubs that failed to include certain required information, such as Gregorys’ address and phone number and all rates of pay.

The lawsuit looks to represent hourly employees who worked for Gregorys at any time within the past three years and until the date of final disposition. Separate classes have been proposed for those who worked in New York City at any time within the past two years and until the date of final disposition and those who worked in New York State at any time within the past six years and until the date of final disposition.

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