New York’s Taqueria Meza Hit with Former Employee’s Wage and Hour Suit

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Two companies and three individuals who operate Taqueria Meza are facing a former employee’s proposed collective action that claims the parties violated several provisions of state and federal labor laws. The man says he worked at the defendants’ Mexican restaurant as a food runner and was paid a fixed weekly salary of $100 plus tips. The suit argues, however, that the defendants were not permitted to apply a tip credit to his wages because they failed to provide him notice and required that he spend more than 20 percent of each day on non-tipped activities. Furthermore, the rate the plaintiff was paid at was allegedly lower than the required tip-credit rate.

The complaint further claims the plaintiff regularly worked more than 40 hours per week – sometimes up to 81 hours – without receiving premium wages for the hours he worked above 40 each week or above 10 each day. He says the restaurant operators instructed him to record fewer hours on his timesheets than he actually worked and never supplied him with accurate wage statements. On top of that, the complaint continues, the plaintiff was not provided with required breaks or reimbursement for purchasing “tools of the trade” – MetroCards and shirts – with his own funds.