Liriano v. Quatro Amici, Inc. d/b/a Paradiso Ristorante & Pizzeria and Diego Stornello, an individual, Civil Case No.: 18-cv-00134

Judge grants Conditional Certification of Collective Action in the Eastern District of New York
Liriano v. Quatro Amici, Inc. d/b/a Paradiso Ristorante & Pizzeria and Diego Stornello, an individual, Civil Case No.: 18-cv-00134

As previously reported on this website regarding Liriano v. Quatro Amici, Inc. d/b/a Paradiso Ristorante & Pizzeria and Diego Stornello, Docket No.: 18-cv-00134, on January 9, 2018, lead Plaintiff Mr. Liriano, on behalf of himself and those similarly situated, filed a collective action lawsuit against Quatro Amici, Inc. d/b/a Paradiso Ristorante & Pizzeria (“Paradiso Ristorante”) and its Chief Operating Officer (“CEO”) Diego Stornello (collectively as “Defendants”), alleging debilitating violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”), and the New York Comp. Codes, Rules, and Regulations (“NYCCRR”), including the failure of Defendants to compensate Plaintiff for overtime. The claims of the case are referenced in our January 2018 blog post and are reviewed as follows:

• Defendant Paradiso Ristorante is a popular and busy restaurant and pizzeria located at 164 N. Village avenue, Rockville Centre, New York.
• Defendant employed Plaintiff as a “food prepper” from about October 17, 2014 until on or about August 23, 2017.
• Throughout his employment, Plaintiff’s primary duties consisted on preparing and cooking food, as well as cleaning his work area as needed.
• Defendants required Plaintiff to work six days per week, from either 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. until either 10:00 or 11:00 p.m., without a scheduled or uninterrupted break each day.
• Regardless of how many hours he actually worked, Defendants paid Plaintiff a flat rate per week of $450.00 from October 2014 until March 2015; $500.00 from in or around April 2015 until July 2016; $600.00 from around August 2016 until February 2017; $700.00 from about March 2017 through the end of his employment. 

Defendants failed to compensate Plaintiff at any rate, let alone at the rate of time and one-half his regular rate of pay. Defendants also failed to pay Plaintiff spread-of-hours compensation of one hour’s pay at the minimum wage rate on those days when his spread of hours exceeded ten during a given day. On each occasion when they paid Plaintiff, Defendants failed to provide Plaintiff with a wage statement that accurately listed his total hours worked that week or his straight and overtime rates of pay for every hour worked as required under the NYLL.

Certification of Collective Action

In this case, pursuant to the request of the Plaintiff, the Judge reviewed claims that the Plaintiff brought forward alleging that there are additional workers in the same “class” (performing the same or similar duties) whose rights have been violated. After reviewing the facts of this case, on September 28, 2018, Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown granted “conditional certification” allowing the case to proceed as a collective action enabling any current and former employees who were not paid properly to join the lawsuit and seek amends for Defendants’ failure to compensate them in accordance with the law.

If you or a person you know worked for the Defendants named in the lawsuit during the time period of January 9, 2012 to the present or has information that may be relevant to this case, contact New York Employment law firm Borrelli & Associates, P.L.L.C. as soon as possible: (516) 248-5550, (516) ABOGADO, and (212) 679-5000.

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