New Rochelle Restaurant Owner Gets Probation For Wage Theft

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — A New Rochelle restaurant owner has been sentenced for failing to pay his employees more than $23,000 in wages they had earned.

New Rochelle resident Paul Hurley, 57, was sentenced on Wednesday, to three years of probation for failing to pay more wages to eight workers he employed as cooks, dishwashers, food runners, kitchen runners and waiters at his New Rochelle restaurant, the now closed Hurley’s Steakhouse and Pub, Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah announced today.

The court also ordered the defendant to pay full restitution to the victims.

"Low-wage workers are the invisible labor force and more vulnerable to wage theft," Rocah said in a statement announcing the sentence. "Not paying these workers, who are already earning low wages, is an egregious exploitation of hardworking people and it is a crime. The dedicated attorneys and investigators in my office are committed to cracking down on bad actors who deny workers their pay, and protecting workers in Westchester County."

See Also: Mamaroneck HS Students Work To Combat Wage Theft Close To Home

The 57-year-old pled guilty in June 2022 to failure to pay wages, a misdemeanor, for not paying the eight employees a total of $23,114 for their work between October 2018 and June 2019. The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office arrested Hurley on February 5, 2020, following an investigation conducted by the NYS Department of Labor and the Economic Crimes Bureau of the District Attorney’s Office.

This case is a result of a coordinated effort by the Wage Theft Task Force to combat wage theft, support workers and recover owed wages. It is one of hundreds of agreements and convictions secured statewide requiring more than a dozen businesses and 265 individuals to pay nearly $3 million in wage restitution and contributions owed to workers and NYS. The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office is part of the Wage Theft Task Force with the NYS Department of Labor, the NYS Attorney General and district attorneys across the state.

The NYS Department of Labor also launched a new online wage theft reporting system to allow for the public to directly report wage theft. The hotline, 1-833-910-4378, offers language interpretation services, and is designed to protect workers' privacy and safety. The public can also report any instances of wage theft and labor crimes directly to the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office at 914-955-8477(TIPS). They offer language assistance and do not ask about documentation status.

The case was prosecuted by Economic Crimes Bureau Chief Gwen Galef of the Trials and Investigations Division.