Owners of NYC Lounge Gaslight Hit with FLSA Class Action [UPDATE]
Last Updated on February 28, 2020
Case Updates
Update – Lawsuit Settled
The lawsuit detailed on this page has been settled. In a letter, the parties notified the court on April 18, 2019 that they had come to a revised settlement agreement after an initial attempt was denied two months prior. The deal was granted approval by United States District Judge Ronnie Abrams on April 23, 2019.
A group of former employees has filed a proposed class action against 400 West 14th Inc. and its owners, who run the Gaslight cocktail lounge, claiming the defendants failed to appropriate minimum, overtime and spread-of-hours wages. The plaintiffs, who worked as barbacks, busboys, and runners, allege the defendants illegally took a tip credit to which they were not entitled – while unlawfully withholding all credit card tips – causing workers’ pay to drop below the hourly minimum for tipped employees. The plaintiffs also allege they were not paid at the time-and-a-half hourly rate for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek or spread-of-hours premiums for shifts lasting longer than 10 hours in a day.
A common thread between the named plaintiffs is that although each was employed ostensibly as a tipped worker, they claim they spent more than 20 percent of each workday performing non-tipped tasks.
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