Owners of La Marina Restaurant/Nightclub Facing FLSA, Harassment Lawsuit

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Manhattan River Group, LLC, which owns and operates La Marina Restaurant/Nightclub in Inwood, New York, and three individuals with control of the business are on the receiving end of a proposed class action filed by a former bartender. The plaintiff, who worked for the defendants in summer 2016 and for “several days” in 2017, claims she and other bartenders within the last three years were never paid hourly compensation, instead receiving only tips from customers for their wages. The plaintiff further claims the defendants filed W2 forms with the IRS stating that wages had been paid to the plaintiff, when in fact she received no hourly wages at all.

Murkying this lawsuit are allegations that one of the individual defendants made unwelcome sexual advances toward the plaintiff and threatened to fire her if she took off for the weekend of July 4 in 2016. From the lawsuit:

“[The individual defendant] told [the plaintiff] that if she took the weekend off, she would not have a job at La Marina when she returned. [The individual defendant] ultimately changed his mind, and explained to [the plaintiff] in substance, ‘Don’t worry about it. It’s just that the weekend will suck without you. I have a way of falling in love with people, but then I get over it.’”

From here, the complaint alleges the individual defendant, among numerous other allegedly inappropriate behaviors, touched the plaintiff inappropriately, even after consistently being told not to, and invited the woman on a trip to Asia and to a bar near his apartment despite repeated refusals of his advances. Eventually, the plaintiff, after allegedly being the subject of more inappropriate workplace behavior, was terminated without cause and escorted from the restaurant by security, the lawsuit claims.