Connecticut Restaurant Sued for Unpaid Wages and Discrimination

Kitchen employees filed a lawsuit against Goodfellas Restaurant in New Haven, Connecticut for unpaid wages, discrimination, and other legal violations. The restaurant workers were paid in cash and allege that the restaurant did not pay them minimum wage or overtime for hours worked over forty in a week, even though they regularly worked more than 60 hours per week. The Complaint states that employees were constantly harassed and threatened as well, and were paid extra money to not alert the authorities about Goodfellas’ legal violations. The owners of Goodfellas screamed at the workers calling them such names as, “fucking Mexicans,” “faggots,” and “dogs.” Goodfellas allegedly threatened to report the workers to immigration because they assumed that the employees were undocumented. Attorneys for the restaurant workers claim that the restaurant acted in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Connecticut Minimum Wage Act, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, and the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act. The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, treble damages, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees.