Westside Market Hit with Wage and Hour Lawsuit in New York

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The operators of New York City’s Westside Market grocery stores have been hit with a proposed collective action wherein two former employees claim workers were not paid proper wages or provided with meal and rest breaks.

According to the suit, the two plaintiffs and other Westside Market workers often put in more than 40 hours per week but were paid for only 39 regardless of how many hours they clocked. The case argues that the workers are owed unpaid minimum and overtime wages, as well as spread-of-hours pay for when they worked more than 10 hours in one day.

“Defendants’ pay practices resulted in Plaintiffs not receiving payment for all their hours worked, and resulted in Plaintiffs’ effective rate of pay falling below the required minimum wage rate,” the complaint avers.

The plaintiffs often worked between 54 and 63 hours per week but were paid at a rate of $15.00 per hour for only 39 hours, the lawsuit says. Per the case, the workers’ pay did not vary when they were required to continue working after their shifts were over, which was a regular occurrence. Moreover, the defendants deducted 30 minutes of work time each day for “nonexistent meal breaks” that the plaintiffs were never provided, the suit says.

The case goes on to claim that the plaintiffs were not provided with accurate wage statements given the defendants adjusted their paystubs to reflect fewer hours than they actually worked. Further, no notice was ever provided to the plaintiffs in English or their primary language of Spanish about their pay rates, employer’s regular payday, or other information required under the New York Labor Law, the suit says.

The lawsuit goes on to claim that workers were not notified, either by posted notice or other means, of their rights under federal and state labor laws.

According to the suit, these practices were “done willfully” to disguise the number of hours the plaintiffs worked and avoid paying them properly for all hours worked.

“Defendants’ unlawful conduct was intentional, willful, in bad faith, and caused significant damages to Plaintiffs and other similarly situated former workers,” the complaint alleges.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone who has worked for all or any of the defendants within the past three years.

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