Manhattan Eatery La Traviata Pizza Facing Ex-Delivery Worker’s Lawsuit Alleging Unpaid Wages

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A former La Traviata Pizza delivery worker alleges he was deprived by the Manhattan restaurant of the appropriate minimum wage, overtime and spread-of-hours pay owed to him under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state law.

The proposed collective action, which names Pebo Traviata Pizza Corp. and four individual owners as defendants, argues that the plaintiff was wrongly classified as a “tipped” employee despite the fact that the man spent over 20 percent of each workday performing non-tipped duties, such as preparing food and cleaning the restaurant. The suit further alleges that the plaintiff was paid at a rate below the federal tip-credited minimum wage. The former employee worked at least 67.5 hours each week from September 2017 to May 2018 for a fixed salary of $60 per day that did not vary even when he was required to work longer than scheduled, the complaint claims. Further, the plaintiff alleges his shifts regularly lasted at least 10 hours, for which he supposedly did not receive the spread-of-hours pay required by New York law.

The case later claims the defendants failed to properly notify the plaintiff that his tips were being included as an offset for wages. The suit also notes allegations of improper recordkeeping, inaccurate wage statements, and failure to reimburse the plaintiff for “tools of the trade” he was required to purchase to perform his job.