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

Richards v. O.B.’S Bakery Inc. d/b/a OB’s Bakery, and Restaurant, and OB’s Express, Ltd., d/b/a OB’s Express, and Omar Dickens individually, Civil Case No.: 22-cv-00711

Lead Plaintiff, Mr. Richards, on behalf of himself, 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 O.B.’S BAKERY INC d/b/a OB’S BAKERY AND RESTAURANT, and OB EXPRESS, LTD., d/b/a OB’S EXPRESS, and OMAR DICKENS, individually (collectively, where appropriate, as “Defendants”), alleging 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 wages. The claims of the case are reviewed as follows:

Plaintiff worked for Defendants – – two New York Corporations that operate as a single enterprise to run a Queens-based Jamaican restaurant/bakery and a Nassau County-based Jamaican Restaurant, as well as the enterprise’s owner and day-to-day overseer – – as a kitchen assistant from January 2016 until September 10, 2021;

Specifically, Defendants required Plaintiff, and Plaintiff did work, in excess of forty hours per week, but Defendants failed to compensate Plaintiff at the statutorily-required overtime rate for those hours;

Instead, throughout his employment, Defendants routinely required Plaintiff to work, and Plaintiff did work, beyond forty hours in a workweek, but Defendants paid Plaintiff a flat weekly salary that by operation of law compensated Plaintiff for only his first forty hours of work each week, and therefore failed to compensate her at the statutorily required overtime rate of one and one-half times his regular rate of pay for all hours that he worked per week in excess of forty in violation of the FLSA and the NYLL;

Defendants paid and treated all their non-managerial laborers in the same manner.

Defendant violated Plaintiff’s rights guaranteed to him by the overtime provisions of the FLSA, the NYLL and the NYCCRR. Additionally, Defendant violated the NYLL by failing to provide Plaintiff with any wage notice upon hire or throughout the relevant period; and provide Plaintiff with an accurate wage statement on each payday.

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. On September 20, 2022, 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 January 2016 – 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.