Astoria Restaurant Ordered to Pay Waitresses for Wage Violations

Las Margaritas, a Mexican restaurant in Astoria, was ordered to pay two former waitresses $41,618.08 for multiple wage violations under the Fair Labor Standard Act and New York Labor Law following a four-day trial and a jury verdict in favor of the waitresses. Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak upheld the jury’s verdict which found that the restaurant failed to pay waitresses minimum wage, overtime, and improperly applied a tip credit towards their wages. Las Margaritas also violated New York Labor Law by failing to pay the waitresses a uniform allowance of $9.00 per week as well as making deductions from the waitresses’ pay or making them pay out of pocket if the cash register was short. The waitresses were represented by Vivianna Morales and Lou Pechman, founder of waiterpay.com.