Operators of El Taquitos Taco Trucks and Restaurant Facing Former Employees’ Wage and Hour Suit

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A proposed collective action has been filed against El Taquitos Corp. and two individual owners over alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law. The two plaintiffs in the case – including a minor represented by his father – claim they worked for one or more of the defendants’ two taco trucks and restaurant that operate under the name El Taquitos.

The first plaintiff says she spent between 67.5 and 72 hours per week preparing food, cooking, and taking and packing orders at one of the defendants’ food trucks. According to the complaint, she was paid a fixed daily rate that didn’t include premium overtime or spread-of-hours wages and, when divided by her hours worked, failed to meet federal and state minimum hourly wage requirements.

Similarly, the second plaintiff claims he was paid a fixed daily rate – which increased from $25 to $100 per day throughout his employment – for performing between 42 and 64.5 hours of work per week. He says he was originally employed as a delivery driver and received tips from customers, but the defendants allegedly never informed him of any tip credit that would be applied to his wages, entitling him to the full hourly minimum. The suit argues that the plaintiff’s compensation never included required overtime and spread-of-hours pay, fell below the federal minimum wage at points, and never met New York state’s minimum wage requirements.

Furthermore, the case alleges, the plaintiffs were always paid in cash and never received accurate paystubs with each payment of wages.