Four Food Studio Accused of Pocketing Tips

Four Food Studio and Cocktail Salon in Melville is being taken to court, along with its owner, for allegedly pocketing tips belonging to its servers.

The servers also accuse owner Jay Grossman of paying employees less than minimum wage in the class action suit filed Friday, July 22, in State Supreme Court in Mineola. The suit could cover more than 70 employees, servers, busboys, cleanup staff and bartenders who catered private parties at and in New Hyde Park, also owned by Grossman, since 2005.

Filed by Marissa McGivney of Hicksville, Danielle Brooke Murry of Farmingdale, and Christina Suthakar of West Babylon, the former employees allege that Grossman failed to pay the servers the 20 percent mandatory gratuity charged to customers hosting catered events at the restaurants, in violation of state labor law.

“Regrettably, there are too many greedy restaurants that rob hardworking employees during these difficult economic times of the money that is rightfully theirs,” Jeffrey Brown, one of the worker’s lawyers, said in a statement.

The suit also alleges that the restaurants failed to properly maintain timesheets or payroll records and did not provide employees with pay stubs listing their wages, rates and deductions.

“Employers, such as Four and Two, frequently ignore the wage laws simply to cut costs hoping that their employees will refrain from enforcing their rights in fear of retribution,” Lloyd Ambinder, a co-
counsel in the suit, said in a statement.

The suit seeks to recover the unpaid wages owed to the employees, damages and attorney fees.

In reaction to the charges, Grossman said that the allegations are a sham.

“This law firm has solicited a small group of mostly former employees. We are committed to compliance with the law and maintain policies and procedures to ensure that employees are properly paid for all time worked and wages earned,” he said. “Four and Two believe that the employees' claims in this proceeding are without merit and we will vigorously defend against this lawsuit.”

According to court papers, the suit seeks class action status because the individual employees may lack the financial resources to pursue individual cases.