José Andrés Sued For Underpaying At Hudson Yards Restaurant

HUDSON YARDS, NY — Renowned chef and humanitarian José Andrés was sued this week for stiffing workers at his recently-opened food hall in Hudson yards by paying them the wrong minimum wage and failing to pay properly for overtime work, according to a lawsuit.

Mercado Little Spain bartenders Tina Braunstein and Cindy Martinez claimed that the company that runs the Hudson Yards food hall — Hudson Hall LLC — paid less than the full minimum wage for their work, according to a class action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York. Other wage-theft claims include: Failure to pay overtime, failure to pay a $15 "premium" when workers put in shifts longer than 10 hours and the pooling of tips with non-service employees.

Andrés and Mercado Little Spain are both named as defendants in the lawsuit. After the lawsuit was filed, the chef attributed the pay issues to a "glitch" that would be corrected.

"When it comes to running business, we try very hard to be more than legal.. to be fair. Nobody should be underpaid. We know we sometimes make mistakes. But our teams are family and know they can come to us with any issue," Andrés said in a statement posted to Twitter.

But lawyers for Braunstein and Martinez aren't convinced. On Thursday, an amended lawsuit was filed that doubles down on the original claims of systematic wage theft.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Andres has been trying harder to feed people around the world than his own employees at Mercado Little Spain in Hudson Yards, who are systematically paid sub-minimum wages," the amended lawsuit reads.

At the heart of the issue is the difference between the tipped minimum wage and the full minimum wage for food service workers. The minimum wage in New York City is $15 per hour, but employers are allowed to pay workers who receive tips $10 per hour. Braunstein and Martinez, who were employed as bartenders (a tipped position), claim they were owed the full minimum wage because they spent more than 20% of their shift doing non-tipped work such as setting up and breaking down the bar.

"The violations are serious and far surpass a "glitch," the lawsuit reads.

Mercado Little Spain opened earlier this year in the new Hudson Yards neighborhood on the west side of Manhattan. The restaurant is the first opened in New York City by Andrés, who has a large presence in cities such as Washington D.C. and Las Vegas.

In recent years, Andrés has become known for his humanitarian work through his organization World Central Kitchen. The chef was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for his help in feeding the residents of Puerto Rico after hurricanes devastated the island.