LI caterer pays $610G to settle new labor charges

Nearly six years after the Westbury Manor catering hall and restaurant paid more than $300,000 to settle federal charges that it failed to pay workers minimum wage and overtime, the business now has agreed to pay almost twice that to settle new charges that it violated the original settlement, according to a U.S. Labor Department announcement released Tuesday.

The caterer has agreed to pay $610,000 to settle a department lawsuit filed March 28, charging the business with contempt for failing to pay nearly 100 current and former employees overtime and minimum wage, thus violating the terms of the 2005 agreement requiring the company to comply with labor laws.

The consent judgment, which settles the case, also names officers Vincent, Gennaro and Luigi Scotto. "For such a prominent company to so blatantly violate not only the law but a previous judgment is also indicative of how commonplace the practice is in the restaurant industry," said Irv Miljoner, who heads the department's Long Island office.

A woman who answered the phone at the Westbury Manor Tuesday said the owner declined to comment.

In 2005, the company agreed to pay $338,000 as part of a $1-million Labor Department settlement with four catering halls accused of underpaying nearly 2,000 employees. The latest settlement includes $482,780 in back wages and $50,000 in interest for workers; $69,300 in civil penalties and $7,920 in child-labor penalties stemming from allegations the company worked 14- and 15-year-olds longer hours than labor law allows.

The agreement follows an investigation by Miljoner's office that began in late 2009. That probe found that Westbury Manor dishwashers, cooks, waiters, busboys and bartenders often worked more than 40 hours a week -- some as many as 60 hours a week -- but were not paid at the overtime rate for the extra hours.

So in effect, the department said they earned less than the federal minimum wage, which ranged from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour for the years 2005 to 2010 that the settlement covered. Federal labor law requires companies to pay eligible employees one and one-half their regular hourly rate for every hour over 40 that they work in a week.

Employees who believe they are owed back wages should call the U.S. Department of Labor at 516-338-1890.