Princess Diner Owner Sentenced To Jail For Not Paying Workers: AG

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — The owner of the Princess Diner in Southampton was sentenced to six months in jail for scheming to defraud and failing to pay employees, said New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood.

In addition, a release from the AG's office said, $132,000 in stolen wages was recovered for 23 restaurant workers.

On Friday, Underwood announced the sentencing of Bivona and John Kalogeras, former manager of the Princess Diner, as well as RJT Food & Restaurant, LLC — doing business as Princess Diner, she said.

Bivona and Kalogeras were charged with failing to pay restaurant workers and scheming to defraud them by falsely promising when workers would receive their wages, including credit card tips that had been illegally withheld, Underwood said.

Bivona and Kalogeras misappropriated a total of more than $132,000 from 23 low-wage workers, the AG said.

Bivona was sentenced to six months in jail and Kalogeras was sentenced to a conditional discharge by the Honorable Fernando Camacho of Suffolk County Supreme Court; RJT Food & Restaurant, LLC was also sentenced to a conditional discharge, iiUnderwood said.

Bivona has been required to pay $88,428 to 15 workers for unpaid wages earned between Aug. and Dec., 2016, and an additional $43,583 to eight other employees for unpaid wages earned between Jan., 2017 and Feb., 2018, for a total of more than $132,000, she said.

“Every worker is entitled to the wages they earn — period. When employers skirt the law and steal from their employees, they’ll face the consequences,” Underwood said. “We’ll continue to enforce the law to protect all New York workers.”

Princess Diner, located at 32 Montauk Highway, had been a mainstay on the Southampton canvas for decades.

In Aug., 2016, Bivona took over the diner from Kalogeras and his family, but kept Kalogeras on as the manager to run the day-to-day operations, the AG said.

Restaurant employees, including cooks, dishwashers, bussers, and servers, who had previously worked for the diner for more than 10 years, continued to work under Bivona, Underwood said.

Between Aug. and Dec. of 2016, Bivona and Kalogeras failed to pay workers their wages, which often included overtime hours, on a weekly basis, as required by law, or at all., Underwood said.

Employees who received cash tips lived off those cash tips exclusively, since Bivona withheld most of their credit card tips from them or paid them only a partial amount several weeks later, she added.

Both Bivona and Kalogeras repeatedly promised the workers that payment was imminent, but many workers either never received any payment or only received sporadic payment after waiting for weeks to be paid, Underwood said. Employees continued to work at the diner in the hopes of eventually getting paid as promised, but workers ultimately quit when they did not receive payment "after months of promises," Underwood said.

On March 9, Bivona pleaded guilty to scheme to defraud, a felony, and failure to pay wages, a misdemeanor; Kalogeras pleaded guilty to failure to pay wages, Underwood said. RJT Food & Restaurant, LLC pleaded guilty to scheme to defraud and failure to secure workers’ compensation coverage, felonies, the AG said.

In Sept., 2017, it was revealed that the investigation into the owner and manager of the Princess Diner in Southampton was set into motion after two employees allegedly went to police and reported what was happening, police said.

Bivona and Kalogeras were each charged with separate counts of harassment for intimidating and threatening workers and their families when the workers asked to be paid, former New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said at the time.

According to Southampton Town Police, the employees told authorities that they were "not receiving proper compensation from their employer. A meeting in January of 2017, between Southampton Town Police, several additional employees, as well as New York State Department of Labor revealed that 13 employees were reportedly not receiving proper compensation for their work and were reportedly threatened and intimidated by Bivona and Kalogeras."

Initially, Southampton Town Police charged Bivona with menacing related to threatening one of the victims' family members, police said.

Doug Cohen, spokesman for the Attorney General's office, said in 2017 that while the status of workers is not questioned during an investigation, the issue of immigrants who may be afraid to speak up for fear of being fired or deported is one that has been the focus of discussions in the Southampton area.

"We've had a lot of community roundtables to get the word out," Cohen said. "We are aware of the problem and trying to convene people in the community to deal with it."

Patch file photo courtesy Southampton Town Police.