Firm Secures a Trial Win with a Verdict in the amount of $5,828,401.00 for violations of the New York Labor Law

Toribio, et al. v. Feldor Billiards, Inc, et al., Case No :153384/2014

Firm represents Toribio, one plaintiff among a group of service employees against their former employer, Feldor Billiards, Inc., d/b/a Fat Cat Billiards, and Noah Sapir, an individual, and Charles H. Berg, an individual, and Ben Gee, an individual, for non-payment of tips voluntarily left by patrons at a nightclub, bar and/or recreational establishment and intended for Plaintiff, in violation of Article Six of the New York Labor Law and the New York State Department of Labor’s Hospitality Industry Wage Order. Defendants retained portions of the gratuities that its customers intended for service employees, such as Plaintiff.  Specifically, when customers left a significant amount in tips for the Plaintiff in recognition of the services provided by him, Defendants would retain all the money for its own use, thus failing to provide tips to Plaintiff.  Making things worse, Defendants completely failed to pay the Plaintiff any of these tips, notwithstanding the fact that they issued the Plaintiff W2 forms each year indicating that the Plaintiff was receiving tens of thousands of dollars in tips annually. Instead, Defendants paid Plaintiff a flat hourly rate, which varied depending on the night of the week that they worked, but never varied as far as any tips left by patrons – that is, the Defendants never distributed any tips to the Plaintiff as previously explained. Additionally, Defendant issued to Plaintiff bi-weekly wage statements that did not accurately reflect the tips left by patrons, because in fact no tips were ever distributed to Defendant’s service employees.  Prior post upon action commencement located here: https://www.employmentlawyernewyork.com/news/latest/vicente-toribio-v-feldor-billiards-inc-et-al.html.  After a long trial, the judge rendered a verdict in the amount of $5,828,401.00 in favor of the Plaintiffs collectively and an amount of $869,516.00 in favor of Toribio.  Michael J. Borrelli handled the matter on behalf of the firm.