Carmine’s Restaurant Sued For Off-The-Clock Pay Violations

Class action wage theft lawsuits have been filed against Carmine’s, a popular Italian restaurant, with locations in Times Square and on the Westside of Manhattan. The lawsuits, filed in New York federal court, allege that servers at Carmine’s have been denied minimum wage and overtime pay, due to time shaving by restaurant management. Waiters who filed the lawsuits claim they were required to work during unpaid break periods and after clocking-out at the end of their shifts. Raul Pichardo, the waiter who filed one of the lawsuits, claims that he regularly worked 60 hours per week but was paid for less than 40 hours of work. The lawsuits against Carmine’s alleges that the restaurants failed to pay its employees the proper minimum wage for all hours worked. The restaurants also failed to pay time and a half for employees’ hours worked over 40 in a week, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and New York Labor Law. Lawyers for the restaurant workers have filed the wage lawsuits as class actions on behalf of potentially hundreds of individuals who have worked at Carmine’s in the past six years. The wage lawsuits seek backpay, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees.