2 Famed LIC Restaurants Pay $20K To Ex-Workers In Wage Theft Case

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — Two of Long Island City's most prominent restaurants have agreed to pay $20,000 to two ex-employees who claimed they were illegally underpaid, court records show.

American Brass and Maiella, situated a few blocks apart on Center Boulevard but owned by the same two-man team, were sued in federal court in February by Diego Cisneros, who worked as a food runner at American Brass from early 2020 until his termination in June 2021.

In his class-action suit, Cisneros said he was paid just $10 an hour, below the state's $15 minimum wage. While New York employers can make up that difference if workers are tipped, the restaurants' owners failed to properly notify workers about their "tip credit," did not include it on their wage statements, and implemented a pooling scheme where workers like Cisneros had to share money with non-tipped employees, the suit says.

Cisneros and fellow workers also spent two hours of each shift doing non-tipped activities like washing dishes, taking out garbage, preparing salads, taking deliveries and moving supplies between Maiella and American Brass, he alleged. Still, the restaurant owners claimed "tip credit" for all of their workers' hours, skirting the minimum wage law, the suit says.

Meanwhile, Cisneros also worked significant hours "off-the-clock," amounting to 46 hours per week, but his paystubs would only reflect his official hours of 38 to 40 — a "time-shaving" policy that deprived him of overtime pay, he said.

Each workday, Cisneros had $2.50 deducted from his pay as a meal credit — but the food they provided, largely leftovers from brunch service, did not measure up to state laws that require provided meals to include "wholesome, nutritious foods," the suit says.

Aaron Campos, another employee who formerly worked at Maiella, joined Cisneros's suit as a fellow plaintiff in April, though details about his employment are not included in the court records.

The settlement, entered on Wednesday, requires restaurant owners Robert Briskin and Tommy Demaras to pay $20,000 to Cisneros and Campos by February 2023. The businesses are not admitting to any liability as part of the settlement, records show.

"This judgment was reached as part of an amicable settlement of a disputed claim by two former employees against Maiella and American Brass," the restaurant owners said in a statement shared by their attorney. "Both Maiella and American Brass always treat their employees fairly, but they believed it was in the best interest of all parties to put this matter behind them."

Maiella opened in 2015, serving Italian cuisine marking what the local blog LIC Talk called "a new restaurant era" in the neighborhood. American Brass, its "sister restaurant," opened in 2020, serving brasserie fare like ribs, burgers and steak.