Workers Tell Midtown Eatery It's Time To Pay Up: Suit
MIDTOWN, NY — Workers who won over half a million dollars in a settlement against their employers say a two-month pause in payments due to the pandemic has led to owners missing several months of payments.
To date, they still owe nearly $300,000.
Sixteen workers at San Pietro sued the owners of the Italian eatery in 2018 for violations of federal and state wage and hour laws, as well as federal, state and local civil rights laws in federal court, according to court records.
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Owners, the suits claimed, failed to pay the workers minimum and overtime wages, and allege that tips were also withheld.
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The East 54th Street Midtown power-lunch spot settled the multiple cases in 2019 for a total of $563,400, according to a new lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.
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When the settlements were reached in late 2019, the restaurant agreed to pay 54 monthly installments — until approximately May 2024 — totaling $10,433.31.
“Businesses regularly take advantage of immigrant employees by withholding or stealing their wages and must be held accountable for their actions,” said an attorney for the workers, Catalina Sojo. “Exploiting vulnerable workers is not only unethical, but also illegal.”
During the pandemic, the parties agreed to a two-month payment pause during the lockdown period of March and April 2020, said Sojo.
As part of the payment pause, the owners agreed to pay an additional month of payments, bringing the total settlement to $573,833.50.
“The Defendants, however, have failed to resume their payments,” Sojo told Patch.
According to the suit, the restaurant did manage to restart payments for a period, but then the payments ceased again in March 2022, leaving the owners in arrears for about $73,000 by September.
After the worker’s lawyers sent the owners a default notice that month, a payment of about $30,000 was submitted in December, the suit claims.
Since then, workers haven’t seen a dime.
Messages left with San Pietro seeking comment were not returned.
“These practices harm individuals and their families, undermining their well-being and contributing to a cycle of economic injustice,” said Sojo. “By holding businesses accountable for exploiting these employees, we can create a more just and equitable work environment for all workers.”
In total, the owners have paid a total of $301,704.77, the suit claims, leaving them with $272,128.73 left to pay, according to the suit.
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