Aquino v. Joseph’s Auto Center, Inc., and Carl Bucalo, individually Case No.: 18-cv-2009

New Collective Action filed in the Southern District of New York
Aquino v. Joseph’s Auto Center, Inc., and Carl Bucalo, individually Case No.: 18-cv-2009

On March 6, 2018, Lead Plaintiff Mr. Aquino, on behalf of himself and those similarly situated, filed a class and collective action lawsuit in United States District Court – Southern District of New York against Joseph’s Auto Center, Inc. and Carl Bucalo, individually. The complaint alleges as follows:

Mr. Aquino worked for Defendants, a Bronx auto body shop and its owner/Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), as a paint mixer/car detailer from in or about September 2015 through on or about September 21, 2017. Throughout the entirety of his employment, Mr. Aquino was required to, and did routinely, work, five days per week, generally from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm, with a thirty-minute break each day. Thus, Mr. Aquino worked a total of approximately forty-five hours per week throughout his employment with Defendants. Yet, Defendants failed to properly compensate him at the statutorily-required overtime rate of pay for any hour that he worked per week over forty hours as the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”), New York Compensation Codes Rules and Regulations (“NYCCRR”), and the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) require. Instead, Defendants deliberately chose to pay Mr. Aquino a flat weekly salary (between $600 and $650) which was intended to cover only the first forty hours worked per week. On each occasion that Defendants paid Mr. Aquino, they failed to furnish him with a wage statement that accurately listed his actual hours worked for that week, let alone the hours worked to be paid at his overtime or straight-time rate of pay. Additionally, Defendants did not provide Plaintiff with a wage notice at the time of his hire that accurately contained his regular and overtime rates of pay as designated by the employer. To further exacerbate the matter, Defendant Bucalo failed to pay Plaintiff his full weekly salary for four consecutive weeks prior to September 15, 2017. However, when Mr. Aquino complained about this, Defendant Bucalo retaliated by terminating him.

If any individual is or has previously been an employee for Joseph’s Auto Center, Inc. and Carl Bucalo during the time period of March 6, 2012 – present or has information that may be relevant to this case, please contact Borrelli & Associates, P.L.L.C. as soon as possible through one of our websites, www.employmentlawyernewyork.com or www.516abogado.com, or any of our phone numbers: (516) 248-5550, (516) ABOGADO, or (212) 679-5000.