Pechman Law Group has filed a wage theft lawsuit on behalf of workers at the Seneca Park Zoo who were subjected to the unlawful practice of deducting time from their paychecks for breaks they never took and for routinely paying them late on a biweekly basis in violation of the New York Labor Law. The lawsuit was reported in The Daily Record.
The workers at Seneca Park Zoo were employed by the SSA Group, a company operating in thirty-two states that is hired by zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, museums, and other public attractions to provide workers and logistics for food, retail, and ticketing services. The company employs over 8000 workers nationwide, with four locations in New York State, including the Seneca Park Zoo and Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, the Buffalo Zoo, and Playland Amusement Park in Rye. Food service workers at the Seneca Park Zoo spent large portions of their day performing manual tasks like preparing food, receiving deliveries, organizing inventory, cleaning, and other tasks. The workers allege that SSA Group was not paying food service workers for all their time worked, in addition to paying them late.
The lawsuit alleges that SSA Group automatically deducts employee time for lunch breaks, regardless of whether the employee actually took the break. The complaint also claims SSA Group pays all its workers, on a bi-weekly basis, in violation of New York Labor Law § 191 which requires employers to pay their manual workers within seven days of the end of a work week. Because of these policies, food service workers employed by SSA Group in New York, are seeking to recover their unlawfully deducted time in addition to statutory damages because of their late paid wages.
If you are a current or former SSA Group employee in New York State and wish to pursue claims of wage theft, please contact Christian Mercado at [email protected] or contact our office at 212-583-9500 for a free consultation.
