BY HUGH SON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Charging they were paid as little as 43 cents an hour, workers
from a shuttered Sheepshead Bay diner yesterday said they are
suing their old boss for $1.26 million in unpaid wages and stolen
tips.
Owner Peter Likourentzos forced workers at the Bay Plaza Seafood
House to depend on tips to survive, they charged.
"I gave them my life. When I started, I was young,"
said bartender Miguel Orellana, a 14-year employee who said his
base hourly wage of 43 cents was bolstered to $6.14 after tips.
Likourentzos closed the Bay Plaza last year to build a six-story
49-unit condo building.
"We want for him to give back our money - our salary, our
tips," Orellana said.
Workers also charged management often took a 33% cut of their
tips from parties and banquets held at the restaurant, which also
is illegal, according to labor experts.
And Orellana charged that Likourentzos verbally abused workers,
calling them "donkeys" and "chickens without heads."
A crowd of about 50 people protested yesterday in front of the
Park Plaza diner in Brooklyn Heights, which is also owned by Likourentzos.
"What do we want? Justice!" the workers chanted yesterday
as bewildered patrons entered the restaurant.
Former busboy Sergio Delgadillo said he was paid $80 and got
$200 in tips during 70-hour work weeks - which equals $4 an hour,
below the $6-an-hour minimum wage.
"He shut down the restaurant without notice and left us
with nothing," Delgadillo said.
Nick Likourentzos, son of the owner and manager at the Park Plaza
diner, denied the mistreatment of workers.
"We're in this business 35 years, we've always been honest
people and respectful to our employees," Likourentzos said.
Likourentzos' lawyer Laurent Drogin denied the charges - questioning
why a lawsuit was filed only after the diner closed - but he indicated
the owner wanted to settle with workers.
"I think it's in everyone's interest to reach a settlement
as early as we can," Drogin said.
State law requires tip-earning employees to be paid at least
$3.85 an hour in salary, said Paul Sonn of the Brennan Center
for Justice at NYU Law School.
"The base wage can't be any lower than $3.85 in New York
right now, regardless of how much they make in tips," Sonn
said.
Outside the Park Plaza diner, Peter, a waiter taking a smoke
break, emphatically defended Likourentzos.
"They treat me very well, to be honest," he said. "I
feel like they are a family here."
Originally published on August 31, 2005
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