Zaldivar v. JMJ Caterers, Inc.
The plaintiff, Orbin Zaldivar, a former dishwasher and food preparer, filed a wage and hour action against JMJ Caterers, Inc. d/b/a The Metropolitan, Michael Giamalvo, and Janender Narang, alleging violations of the FLSA and NYLL for unpaid overtime. Zaldivar claims the defendants used a 'two punch card' system to avoid paying overtime by recording regular hours on one card and overtime hours (paid in cash at the regular rate) on a second card. He moved for conditional certification of a collective action, asserting that other kitchen staff, servers, and busboys were subjected to the same unlawful policy. Despite defendants' opposition challenging the factual allegations and the scope of the class, the Court granted the motion for conditional certification, finding that the plaintiff made a modest factual showing of a common policy that violated the law and that other employees were similarly situated. The Court conditionally certified a class of all servers, busboys, and kitchen workers employed by The Metropolitan from December 28, 2012, to the present.