Tenezaca v. 808 Lex Restaurant, LLC

Background

The parties submitted a joint letter about pre-certification discovery and unresolved discovery disputes. The plaintiffs had served interrogatories and document requests, and the defendants had served responses. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law through wage-and-hour practices at Il Gradino, including practices involving tips, wage notices, payment timing, and management participation in the tip pool.

The parties agreed that the defendants would provide complete payroll records for captains, servers, bartenders, runners, and bussers for four sample weeks: June 5, 2022; November 13, 2022; March 12, 2023; and December 10, 2023. The letter states that the defendants agreed to provide those records by March 8, 2024, and that the agreement did not eliminate the plaintiffs’ ability to seek broader payroll records if a class were certified.

Plaintiffs’ Requests

The plaintiffs asked the court to require amended and verified answers to interrogatories concerning payroll-service providers and individuals who were managers or performed managerial or employer functions at Il Gradino. They argued that this information was relevant to their allegations about operational control and the tip pool.

The plaintiffs also challenged the defendants’ responses to document requests. The requests included the plaintiffs’ personnel files; records showing when the plaintiffs were actually paid; bank records; wage and tip records for managers and supervisors; and records of the restaurant’s income. The plaintiffs argued that these materials were relevant to their claims concerning wage notices, tip sharing, late or failed payments, and coverage under the federal wage law.

Defendants’ Position

The defendants argued that the interrogatories violated the limits in the court’s local rules, that some requests were not sufficiently limited, and that the payroll-provider information was irrelevant. They said the plaintiffs’ personnel files were irrelevant and confidential, and argued that the plaintiffs lacked a sufficiently concrete injury for their wage-notice claims under New York Labor Law.

The defendants also opposed production of bank records and information about when checks were cashed, arguing that the requests were overbroad and would disclose confidential financial information. They argued that records for all managers and supervisors were not narrowly tailored. The defendants stated that they had produced 1,088 pages of records for the plaintiffs, had agreed to provide additional tip records, would provide verifications, and had offered to stipulate that Il Gradino had gross annual revenue of at least $500,000 for 2022 and 2023.

Court’s Action

Judge Jessica G. L. Clarke did not rule on the parties’ underlying discovery disputes in this order. The court ordered the parties to appear by Microsoft Teams for a conference on March 20, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. The court also ordered them to continue conferring and try to resolve as many issues as possible before the conference. The parties were ordered to file an updated joint letter by March 15, 2024, addressing any remaining discovery disputes.