On Wednesday, former employee Heber Figuroa filed a collective action complaint in the Eastern District of New York against K&S Farm Brooklyn Inc. and Shin Jung for failing to keep proper payroll records and thereby not paying Figuroa his proper regular and overtime wages.
According to the complaint, Heber Figuroa worked at K&S from 2016 to 2021, where he was a vegetable sorter, produce sorter, stocker and cashier. He regularly worked approximately 53 hours per week, but K&S allegedly did not pay him the 1.5x overtime rate, which is a “blatant violation of the overtime provisions contained in the FLSA [Fair Labor Standards Act] and NYLL [New York Labor Law].” Furthermore, the complaint alleged that the “Defendants willfully failed to post notices of the minimum wage and overtime wage requirements in a conspicuous place” as required by the aforementioned labor laws. Figuroa also is suing as a collective action complaint alongside the 10-15 other workers of K&S who were routinely underpaid for their work.
Figuroa alleges violations of overtime laws under the FLSA and NYLL, as well as spread of hours compensation, violation of wage statement requirements and violation of the notice and recordkeeping requirements under New York law. The latter two claims allow up to $5,000 compensation per claim per plaintiff, and the wage complaints may lead to K&S being liable to reimburse all unpaid wages to the current and former employees of the store.
The plaintiff is seeking a declaration that the Defendants violated the FLSA and New York Labor Law, damages in the form of unpaid overtime wages and unpaid spread of hours compensation, liquidated damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney’s fees and costs, and other relief.
The plaintiff is represented by Helen F. Dalton & Associates, P.C.
