Espinoza Sanchez v. Angelina’s Kitchen, Inc. d/b/a Angelina’s Kitchen, and Vincent Malerba individually, and Baldo Manno, individually.; Index No.:1:26-cv-120
On January 9, 2026, Plaintiff Espinoza Sanchez, by and through his attorneys, Borrelli & Associates, P.L.L.C., filed a complaint in the United States District Court, Eastern District, against Angelina’s Kitchen, inc. d/b/a Angelina’s Kitchen (“Angelina’s Kitchen) and Vincent Malerba, individually, and Baldo Manno, individually, (together, where appropriate, as “Defendants”), alleging upon knowledge as to himself and his own actions, and upon information and belief as to all other matter, as follows:
Plaintiff worked for Defendants – – a New York corporation that operates a restaurant located on Staten Island, New York, as well as its owner and day-to-day overseer and one of its managers – – as a cook from May 25, 2020, until May 25, 2025. As described below, throughout Plaintiff’s employment, Defendants required Plaintiff to work, and Plaintiff did work, in excess of forty hours each week, or virtually each week. Yet in exchange, Defendants paid Plaintiff on an hourly basis at his regular rate for each hour that he worked, and thus Defendants did not pay Plaintiff at the overtime rate of one and one-half times his regular rate for the hours that he worked over forty in a week, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law’s (“NYLL”) overtime provisions. Moreover, throughout his employment, for those days when Plaintiff’s shift exceeded ten hours from beginning to end, Defendants did not compensate Plaintiff with an additional one hour’s pay at the minimum wage rate, in violation of the spread-of-hours provisions of the NYLL and the N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Lastly, Defendants violated the NYLL by failing to furnish Plaintiff with any wage notice at the time of his hire or with any wage statement on each payday, let alone an accurate notice or statements. Defendants paid and treated all of their hourly-paid back-of-the-house employees in the same manner.
If any individual is or has previously been an employee of the Defendants named in the lawsuit and/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.
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