Gristede's Loses Overtime Class Action and Is Found Liable for Retaliation, According to Outten & Golden LLP

Last update: 7:33 a.m. EDT Sept. 2, 2008
NEW YORK, Sept 02, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- A federal judge has granted summary judgment in favor of a class of more than 400 current and former Gristede's co-managers and department managers on their claims that the New York City grocery store chain violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law by failing to pay them proper overtime compensation for hundreds of thousands of overtime hours.
Judge Paul A. Crotty, of the Southern District of New York, ruled that Gristede's unlawfully "sought to treat workers as 'hourly' for some purposes (i.e., docking them for hours not worked during the workweek), but 'salaried' for other purposes (i.e., not paying them overtime for hours worked in excess of the workweek)."
Adam T. Klein, Justin M. Swartz, and Linda A. Neilan, of Outten & Golden LLP in New York, represent the Plaintiffs and the class. The case is "Torres, et al., v. Gristede's Operating Corp., et al.," (Southern District of New York, Case No. 04 cv 3316).
Linda A. Neilan, of Outten & Golden LLP, said, "What Gristede's forced upon its employees was a 'heads-I-win, tails-you-lose' arrangement. We are pleased that the Court saw through this scheme and gave our clients the justice they deserve. These workers gave Gristede's so many hours of their lives. All they wanted was to be properly paid for their work."
The judge also ruled that Gristede's unlawfully retaliated against two of the plaintiffs by filing counterclaims against them, finding that the counterclaims were "so flimsy that they must have been made for another purpose: to punish the Individual Plaintiffs for joining the FLSA suit and having the temerity to name certain Gristede's officers."
One of the Gristede's officers named in the suit is John Catsimatidis, the owner and CEO of the Red Apple Group, Gristede's parent corporation. Mr. Catsimatidis has spoken publicly about running a self-funded campaign for mayor of New York City in 2009 as a Republican, although he was previously a Democrat.
Justin M. Swartz, of Outten & Golden LLP, said, "Mr. Catsimatidis' often repeated 'rags-to-riches' American immigrant success story conflicts with his labor record as an employer. One would think that 'the son of a Greek busboy' who 'delivered groceries at the age of 14' would treat his own workers more fairly -- and in accordance with state and federal law. Mr. Catsimatidis' business successes too often seem to come at the expense of his employees."
Gristede's and Mr. Catsimatidis also were defendants in a minimum wage class action, "Ansoumana v. Gristede's Operating Corp.," which was brought by the company's delivery workers. In August 2003, the case settled for more than $3 million after the Office of the New York Attorney General entered the case and a federal judge rejected Gristede's argument that it was not responsible for paying its delivery workers properly. Also pending is another federal class action lawsuit which alleges that Gristede's has systematically discriminated against its female workers in hiring, pay, promotion, and job assignments.
Attorney Contacts: Justin M. Swartz and Linda A. Neilan, Outten & Golden LLP, New York, 212-245-1000, http://www.outtengolden.com.
Media Contact: Erin Powers, Powers MediaWorks LLC, for Outten & Golden LLP, 281-703-6000 or 281-362-1411.
SOURCE Outten & Golden LLP
http://www.outtengolden.com