Garcia Herrera v. Jai Balaji Inc d/b/a Super 8 by Wyndham Long Island City LGA Hotel, Case No.: 19-cv-07164-MKB-PK

Judge grants Conditional Certification of Collective Action in the Eastern District of New York

Garcia Herrera v. Jai Balaji Inc d/b/a Super 8 by Wyndham Long Island City LGA Hotel, Case No.: 19-cv-07164-MKB-PK

On December 20, 2019, Lead Plaintiff, Ms. Garcia Herrera, on behalf of herself, individually, and on behalf of all others similarly-situated, filed a collective action lawsuit in the United States District Court Eastern District of New York against JAI BALAJI INC d/b/a SUPER 8 BY WYNDHAM LONG ISLAND CITY LGA HOTEL, and S.A. GANDHI, individually, and VIKRAM GANDHI, individually, (together, where appropriate, as “Defendants”), alleging deliberate violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) and the New York Comp. Codes, Rules, and Regulations (“NYCCRR”), including the failure of Defendants to compensate Plaintiffs for overtime wages. The claims of the case are reviewed as follows:

Plaintiff worked for Defendants – – a New York corporation that operates at least one Queens-based motel, its Chief Executive Officer, and its day-to-day manager – – as a housekeeper from March 1, 2001 to May 20, 2019.
Throughout her employment, Defendants willfully failed to pay Plaintiff the overtime wages lawfully due to her under the FLSA and the NYLL.
Defendants required Plaintiff to work, and Plaintiff did in fact work, in excess of forty hours virtually each week, yet Defendants failed to compensate Plaintiff at least at the rate of one and one-half times the minimum wage, or one and one-half times his regular rate, whichever was greater, for any hours that he worked in excess of forty in a week.

Defendants paid Plaintiff, in cash, at her straight time rate for all hours that she worked over forty in a week.

Defendant violated Plaintiff’s rights guaranteed to her by the overtime provisions of the FLSA, the NYLL and the NYCCRR. Additionally, Defendant violated the NYLL by failing to provide Plaintiff with accurate wage statement on each payday or with any wage notice at the time of her respective hire, let alone an accurate one.

Certification of Collective Action

In this case, pursuant to the Plaintiff’s request of, 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. On September 27, 2020, Plaintiffs’ motion for approval of a collection action was granted, 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 redress 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 June 30, 2014 – present or has information that may be relevant to this case, contact Borrelli & Associates, P.L.L.C. as soon as possible through one of our websites, www.employmentlawyernewyork.com, www.516abogado.com or any of our phone numbers: (516) 248-5550, (516) ABOGADO, and (212) 679-5000.