Campos v. Lenmar Restaurant Inc.

Background

Victor Campos sued Lenmar Restaurant Inc., doing business as Pietro’s, and William Bruckman under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law. He alleged that Defendants failed to pay regular and overtime wages for all hours worked, failed to pay the required minimum wage, failed to pay extra compensation for workdays longer than 10 hours, and failed to provide required wage notices and statements.

Campos alleged that he worked as a busser at Pietro’s from approximately April 2017 through November 2018. He claimed that Defendants automatically deducted a full one-hour meal break even though he generally received only 30 minutes, required him to work before 10:00 a.m. without pay, and recorded fewer hours than he actually worked. He also alleged that he was paid tip-credit wage rates even though he spent more than half his work time on tasks unrelated to receiving tips and did not receive proper notice about the tip credit.

Campos sought conditional certification under Section 216(b) of the FLSA. Conditional certification is an initial decision allowing potential workers who may have experienced the same unlawful pay practice to receive notice and choose whether to join the case. At this stage, the court applies a lenient standard and does not decide the ultimate merits, resolve factual disputes, or decide whether the workers will ultimately remain together in one collective action.

Analysis

The court held that Campos met the initial standard for bussers and servers. He described his own work and identified specific bussers and servers—including Valerio Santo, Julio Quenca, Jordan, and Carlos Pina—with whom he discussed unpaid work, deducted meal time, or missing wages. The court found these allegations sufficient to support a common policy or practice at this stage.

The court declined to include other non-managerial employees, including kitchen staff and bartenders. Campos had identified some workers by name and position, but the court found that he had not provided enough specific, non-conclusory information showing that those employees were subject to the same policies.

The court also limited the proposed notice to workers employed as bussers or servers during the three-year period before the complaint was filed. It explained that the FLSA generally allows two years for non-willful violations and three years for willful violations, while the longer six-year period under New York law did not apply to the FLSA-only notice being considered.

Rulings and Case Status

The court granted Campos’s motion solely as to bussers and servers employed at Pietro’s on or after December 31, 2015. It approved the proposed notice and consent-to-join form only after requiring revisions to reflect the narrower group, clarify that the notice concerned FLSA claims, and use the three-year period. The court did not approve collection of potential members’ Social Security numbers at that time, but stated that Campos could renew that request if other contact information proved insufficient.

The court granted Campos’s request for pre-certification discovery as modified. Defendants were ordered to provide, in Excel format and within 14 days, the names, titles, compensation rates, employment dates, last known mailing addresses, email addresses, and known telephone numbers of employees within the approved group. Campos was ordered to revise the notice and consent form and provide a proposed publication order within seven days, and to mail the final materials within 30 days after receiving the employee information.

Judge Katherine Polk Failla did not decide whether Defendants actually violated the FLSA or New York Labor Law. The order addressed only the initial notice and certification stage and related discovery.