On Wednesday, Felix Morales filed a class action lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York against FPL Foods, Inc., Antonico Foods Corp. and Leonard Pesce alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law.
According to the complaint, FPL Foods, Inc. and Antonico Foods Corp. are New York corporations that own and operate a specialty market under the name of La Bella Marketplace. The complaint further states that Leonard Pesce is an individual and the de facto and de jure owner, officer and agent of the defendant corporations. Additionally, the complaint alleges that Pesce possesses operational and ownership control over the defendant corporations and controls their significant functions including determining employee wages and schedules, and the authority to hire and fire employees.
The complaint argues that the three defendants either acted together as joint employers or they constitute a single employer with the corporate divisions between them being fictional.
The complaint purports that Felix Morales is a resident of Brooklyn, New York and was employed by the defendants as a clerk from October 6, 2020 until January 8, 2022. The plaintiff alleges that throughout his employment he consistently worked in excess of 40 hours a week. Despite being a non-exempt employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Morales alleges that he was not paid at the time and a half rate required by law for hours in excess of 40 per week.
The plaintiff argues that the defendants willfully disregarded and purposefully evaded record-keeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law to avoid paying employees at the overtime rate. Further, the plaintiff alleges that the defendant did not provide the required wage statements and annual pay notices to employees nor did they post the required wage and hour posters.
Due to these practices by the defendants, Morales filed the complaint as a class and collective action on behalf of himself and others similarly situated alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime, unlawful deductions and record keeping provisions and the overtime, pay, record keeping and wage statement provisions of the New York Labor Law. For these alleged violations the plaintiff seeks declaratory relief, liquidated damages, recovery of unpaid wages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorneys fees and costs. The plaintiff is represented by Stillman Legal, P.C.
