Legal Proceedings
Catholic Migration Services provide free legal advice and representation to help workers learn and enforce their workplace rights. Many workplace disputes can be resolved without the need for formal legal proceedings, but when formal proceedings become necessary, we represent workers in state and federal courts, as well as in government investigations. Our attorneys represent workers in proceedings at the New York State Department of Labor, the New York State Division of Human Rights, the New York City Commission on Human Rights, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board and other government agencies.
Read About Our Cases Below:
Catholic Migration Services, together with co-counsel WilmerHale, represents five former delivery workers employed by two of the seven restaurants in this well-known Manhattan chain. The complaint alleges, among other things, that Dim Sum Palace paid our clients monthly salaries that equated to hourly wages of between $3.20 and $6.52 per hour for workweeks typically between 60 and 72 hours. The case was filed in February, 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Mei Di Chen, et al. v. Dim Sum Palace, Inc., et al.
Catholic Migration Services, together with co-counsel WilmerHale, represents five former delivery workers employed by two of the seven restaurants in this well-known Manhattan chain. The complaint alleges, among other things, that Dim Sum Palace paid our clients monthly salaries that equated to hourly wages of between $3.20 and $6.52 per hour for workweeks typically between 60 and 72 hours. The case was filed in February, 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Mauricio Bravo, et al. v. LHC Construction Management LLC
Catholic Migration Services filed suit in March, 2023 in the Supreme Court of New York, Westchester County, on behalf of seven workers who were not paid any wages for two weeks of work constructing a new Holiday Inn Express. The lawsuit seeks to hold the general contractor liable for the owed wages pursuant to New York’s recently enacted law (N.Y. Labor Law § 198-e) providing that general contractors have liability when their subcontractors fail to pay wages.
Daniel Arias, et al. v. Rogers Builders and Development LLC, et al.
On behalf of four workers who were each unpaid for between two and six weeks of construction work, Catholic Migration Services filed suit in May 2023 in NYC Civil Court in Kings County. Pursuant to NYLL § 198-e, the lawsuit seeks to hold liable the general contractor for wage violations by two levels of subcontractors who failed to pay CMS’s clients.
Blanca Huerta v. 101 Northern Laundromat, Inc.
Against employer defendants with a history of labor law violations, Catholic Migration Services represents a laundromat worker who suffered time-shaving violations throughout the duration of her decade-long tenure at a Queens laundromat. The case was filed in November 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Maria Garcia-Aguirre, et al. v. Mohanna Harfouche and Supreme Bagels & Coffee, Inc. d/b/a Bagel Supreme
In an action before the Eastern District of New York, Catholic Migration Services and Kakalec Law PLLC represent two workers who were drastically underpaid for many years while employed by defendants Mohanna Harfouche and Bagel Supreme in south Brooklyn. Throughout our clients’ combined tenure of 28 years, defendants did not pay our clients the appropriate minimum wage, any overtime, or any spread-of-hours wages, while our clients worked up to 72 hours each week.
Santiago Vazquez, et al. v. 142 Knickerbocker Enterprise Corp. d/b/a Wow Car Wash, et al.
Catholic Migration Services, together with co-counsel Main Street Legal Services (affiliated with CUNY School of Law), represents four former employees of a Brooklyn car wash. The complaint alleges, among other things, that the car wash violated federal and state minimum wage, overtime and spread of hours laws, as well as the unlawful retention of the employees’ gratuities. The Plaintiffs won a motion for partial summary judgment against the car wash, and are awaiting the Court’s decision on the remainder of the issues, following a four-day bench trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in October and November 2022.
Octaviano Vazquez v. Bismillah USA Inc. d/b/a Alachi Masala, Amin Mehedi and Abdul Sahid
Catholic Migration Services, together with co-counsel the Law Office of Robert McCreanor PLLC, represents a former employee of an Upper West Side Indian restaurant. The complaint alleges egregious violations of federal and state minimum wage and overtime laws occurring over many years resulting in more than $175,000 in damages.
Jose Granada, et al. v. Kapos Auto Inc., Marius Caldaras and Marcel Caldaras
Catholic Migration Services, together with co-counsel Kakalec Law PLLC, represents two former employees of a Ridgewood, Queens used car dealership. The Complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleges that the car dealership and its owners violated federal and state minimum wage and overtime laws, and also created fake payroll records to cover up their violations.
Shi, et al. v. Ajisai Japanese Fusion Inc., et al.
Catholic Migration Services represents five former employees of Ajisai Restaurant, an Upper East Side Japanese Restaurant. We obtained a judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against the restaurant and the two individuals who ran it – Chi Kan Lam and Xiu Xiang Yao – for more than $700,000 in damages due to minimum wage and overtime violations.
Perez, et al. V. Standup 236 LLC, et al.
Catholic Migration Services, together with co-counsel Fisher Taubenfeld LLP, represents two former employees of Standup NY, a comedy club located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The Complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges violations of state and federal minimum wage and overtime laws, as well as illegal deductions from wages, resulting in over $300,000 in damages.