Jeong Woo Kim v. 511 E. 5th Street, LLC
Plaintiff Jeong Woo Kim, a sous chef at Goat Town, brought a putative collective action seeking unpaid minimum wages and overtime compensation under the FLSA and NYLL against his employer and its managing members. Kim alleged he regularly worked 70 hours per week on a fixed salary without receiving overtime. Defendants contended Kim was an independent contractor or an exempt executive. The court conditionally certified the collective action, but limited it to kitchen staff members, finding Kim made a sufficient factual showing of a common compensation policy that violated the law for this group. The motion was denied for non-kitchen staff due to differing pay structures. The court ordered the defendants to produce contact information for kitchen staff employed on or after November 7, 2009, and approved the posting of notices at the restaurant.