Mendez v. Mazzola Bakery, Inc., and Frank Caravello, individually, and Francesco Caravello, individually, and Josephine Messina, individually, Civil Case No.: 19-cv-05842

New Action filed in the Eastern District of New York

Mendez v. Mazzola Bakery, Inc., and Frank Caravello, individually, and Francesco Caravello, individually, and Josephine Messina, individually,
Civil Case No.: 19-cv-05842

On October 16, 2019, Plaintiff Mendez, filed a lawsuit in the United States Eastern District Court of New York against MAZZOLA BAKERY, INC., and FRANK CARAVELLO, individually, and FRANCESCO CARAVELLO, individually, and JOSEPHINE MESSINA, individually, (collectively as “Defendants”), alleging as follows:

Plaintiff, a female, worked as a cashier for Defendants – – a corporation that operates a bakery in Brooklyn and its three co-owners and managers – – from in or about May 2005 until the termination of her employment on August 21, 2018.  As described below, throughout the entirety of her employment, but as is relevant herein, due to the operation of pertinent tolling agreements, from January 7, 2013 through August 21, 2018 (“the Relevant Period”), Defendants failed to pay Plaintiff the wages lawfully due to her under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”), and the N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. (“NYCRR”).  Specifically, throughout the Relevant Period, Defendants required Plaintiff to routinely work more than forty hours in a workweek, but they failed to compensate Plaintiff at the statutorily-required overtime rate of one and one-half times her regular rate of pay for all hours that Plaintiff worked in a week in excess of forty.  Instead, Defendants paid Plaintiff at her straight-time rate for all hours worked, in violation of the FLSA, the NYLL, and the NYCRR.  Additionally, throughout the Relevant Period, Defendants failed to provide Plaintiff with accurate wage statements on each payday, in further violation of the NYLL.

Furthermore, beginning in or around October 2016 and continuing until the termination of Plaintiff’s employment on or about August 21, 2018, Defendant Mazzola Bakery, through the actions of Defendant Francesco Caravello, subjected Plaintiff to egregious gender discrimination in the form of hostile work environment sexual harassment, in violation of the New York City Human Rights Law, which included unwelcomed physical contact, such as him slapping Plaintiff’s buttocks and back and brushing his hand up against Plaintiff’s buttocks.  After months of enduring Defendant Francesco Caravello’s sexual harassment, in or around May 2017 and continuing until Plaintiff’s termination on August 21, 2018, Plaintiff lodged good faith complaints with Defendants Frank Caravello and Josephine Messina regarding Defendant Francesco Caravello’s conduct.  In response, however, Defendants Frank Caravello and Josephine Messina did not take any steps to investigate Plaintiff’s complaints or subject Defendant Francesco Caravello to any remedial action, thereby aiding and abetting Francesco Caravello’s sexual harassment of Plaintiff in further violation of the NYCHRL.

If any individual is or has previously been an employee of the Defendants named in the lawsuit and/or has information that may be relevant to this case, please contact Borrelli & Associates, P.L.L.C. as soon as possible through one of our websites, www.employmentlawyernewyork.com or www.516abogado.com, or any of our phone numbers: (516) 248–5550, (516) ABOGADO, or (212) 679–5000.