Restaurant Owner Faces Jail Time For Stiffing Employees

PORT CHESTER, NY — A restaurant owner has been sentenced to jail for not paying employees what they were legally entitled to for a couple of years.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Tuesday that Elisa Parto, the owner of Elisa’s Food & Plus Inc., in Port Chester, was sentenced for failing to pay employees the required minimum wage and overtime.

At her sentencing, Parto was ordered to pay the remaining amount of the total $47,000 in restitution she owed to six former employees.

She previously paid $21,000 of the $47,000 owed, but over the past eight months, Parto failed to pay the remaining amount, despite several warnings from the court.

Because of the non-payment, she was sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to pay the remaining $26,000 in stolen wages, plus a $1,000 fine.

The court postponed Parto’s surrender date until June 5. If she pays the balance of the restitution by that time, she can avoid serving jail time.

However, is she doesn’t pay the remaining amount by June 5, she will be jailed.

Parto spent one week in jail in April 2016 for violating her bail conditions by failing to appear in court and then later failing to report to probation.

Schneiderman said his office will not tolerate exploitation of workers by depriving them of compensation rightfully earned.

“We’ll continue to crack down on those who engage in wage theft, in order to protect hardworking New Yorkers and the families that rely on them,” he said.

Elisa’s Food & Plus, located on Poningo Street, opened for business in 2010. Between 2010 and 2014, Parto hired cooks, cleaners and cashiers who were all owed the minimum wage for hours worked, as well as overtime at one and a half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours a week.

Parto had previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of failing to pay all minimum wage and overtime required by law.

One employee reported frequently working close to 70 hours a week between 2012 and 2014.

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