New Action filed in the United States District Court Eastern District of New York

Bell et. al v. Learning Wheel Childcare Corp. d/b/a Learning Wheel Childcare, and Park Place Day Care Inc. d/b/a Park Place Day Care, and Dvora Inc. d/b/a Building Blocks Land, And Barbrey Prep Inc. d/b/a Barbrey Prep, and Alenushka Childcare, and Irina Gutkina, individually,  and Yelena Kuznetsova, individually; Index No.:23-cv-6879

On September 15^th, 2023, Plaintiff Bell, on behalf of herself, individually, and on behalf of all others similarly-situated, (collectively as “FSLA Plaintiffs,” and/or “Rule 23 Plaintiffs,” as that term is defined below), by and through her attorneys, BORRELLI & ASSOCIATES, P.L.L.C., as and for her Complaint against LEARNING WHEEL CHILDCARE CORP. d/b/a LEARNING WHEEL CHILDCARE (“Learning Wheel”), PARK PLACE DAY CARE INC. d/b/a PARK PLACE DAY CARE (“Park Place”), and DVORA INC. d/b/a BUILDING BLOCKS LAND (“Building Blocks”), and BARBREY PREP INC. d/b/a BARBREY PREP (“Barbrey”), and ALENUSHKA CHILDCARE INC. d/b/a ALENUSHKA CHILDCARE (“Alenushka”), (all five, together, as “the Corporate Defendants”), and IRINA GUTKINA, individually, and YELENA KUZNETSOVA, individually, (collectively, where appropriate, as “Defendants”), alleges upon knowledge as to herself and her own actions and upon information and belief as to all other matters, as follows:

Plaintiff worked for Defendants – – five New York corporations that operate as a single integrated enterprise to run at least five daycares in Brooklyn, New York as well as the enterprise’s two owners and day-to-day overseers – – as a Group Teacher at one of Defendants’ locations from September 8, 2022, to the present. As described below, throughout Plaintiff’s employment, Defendants have willfully failed to pay Plaintiff the overtime wages lawfully due to her under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”), as well as all of her regular wages due under the NYLL. Specifically, throughout her employment, Defendants have paid on an hourly basis and have routinely required Plaintiff to work past the end of her regularly scheduled shift, which often requires Plaintiff to work more than forty hours in a workweek, but Defendants have failed to compensate Plaintiff for those unscheduled hours at any rate of pay. Therefore, Defendants have failed to compensate Plaintiff for all of her hours worked in a week up to forty at her regular rate of pay, and for all of her hours worked in a week over forty at the rate of one and one-half times her regular rate. Defendants have further violated the NYLL by failing to pay Plaintiff, a manual worker, on at least as frequently as a weekly basis, paying her on a bi-weekly basis instead. Defendants have also violated the NYLL by failing to furnish Plaintiff with an accurate wage on each payday or with any wage notice at the time of her hire, let alone an accurate notice.

Ms. Bell has commenced this action not only for herself but also for all her other current and/or former coworkers who were also paid improperly by the Defendants. Therefore, 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.