Peter Luger makes a business of selling choice steaks to New York’s upscale meat-lovers.
But earlier this month, it was the highly regarded steakhouse that got served.
Former waiters from the Great Neck restaurant – the sister eatery to Peter Luger’s original location in Brooklyn – filed a class-action lawsuit on March 15 alleging that management deliberately violated labor laws. The four named plaintiffs, who reside in Nassau and Queens, are requesting back pay for what they describe as unpaid overtime work and illegal tip pooling.
“Often times the waiters were asked to work during their breaks between the lunch and dinner shift for which Peter Luger never paid them,” said attorney Douglas Lipsky, who is representing the workers. “The allegation is that [management] knowingly disregarded their obligations under New York and federal law.”
Lipsky said that Peter Luger failed to pay employees for time spent setting up the restaurant before shifts or cleaning afterwards. Lipsky also alleged the Northern Boulevard eatery made workers pool tips with non-service employees in ways that violate state law.
Overall, Lipsky said, the alleged violations added up to 10 hours of unpaid work per week to employees’ schedules.
Peter Luger’s attorney Carolyn Richmond, of Fox Rothschild, declined to comment on the specifics of the allegations but wrote in an e-mail that they include “more than a few inaccuracies.”
“The restaurant will be vigorously defending the litigation,” Richmond wrote. “We firmly believe that the restaurant has been in full compliance with all state and federal wage and hour laws and that our position will be vindicated in the court system.”
The class-action suit was filed on behalf of an estimated 50 waiters, according to the legal complaint.
The complaint alleges that waiters regularly performed at least 30 minutes of side work, including cleaning and table preparation, during break periods that were deducted from their paid hours worked.
“Managers saw them working through their breaks and gave them assignments that required them to work through their breaks,” according to the complaint.
The complaint also alleges waiters worked in excess of 40 hours per week without receiving time-and-a-half pay.
The plaintiffs are suing for both the alleged unpaid wages and punitive damages.
