WHITE PLAINS, NY — Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the guilty plea of Elisa Parto, owner of the restaurant Elisa’s Food & Plus, Inc., in Port Chester, NY for failing to pay minimum wage and overtime. As a condition of the plea, Elisa Parto will be required to pay $47,000 in restitution in unpaid wages. The Attorney General’s Office anticipates distributing the $47,000 in unpaid wages to 6 former employees. Elisa Parto and the corporation are set to be sentenced on March 10, 2016.
“My office has consistently taken a firm stance on minimum wage and overtime violations, including the filing of criminal charges where appropriate,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “Protecting the livelihoods of hardworking New Yorkers is a priority for my office and this guilty plea demonstrates that commitment.”
Elisa’s Food & Plus, Inc., located at 73 Poningo St. in Port Chester, NY, opened for business in 2010. Between 2010 and 2014, Elisa Parto hired cooks, cleaners and cashiers who were all owed the minimum wage for hours worked, as well as overtime at one and one half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours a week.
New York Labor Law also requires employers to pay wages no later than seven days after the end of the week when the wages were earned. The defendant pleaded guilty for failing to pay the legally required minimum wage and overtime to at least one former employee who often worked close to 70 hours a week between 2012 and 2014.
Parto and Elisa’s Food & Plus, Inc. both plead guilty in Port Chester Village Court yesterday. Each plead guilty to one count of Failure to Pay Wages under Labor Law Section 198-a(1), an unclassified misdemeanor. As part of her plea, the Court promised to sentence Elisa Parto to 3 years’ probation, with a condition that Parto must pay $11,000 in restitution by the date of sentencing on March 10, 2016, and continue to pay $1,000 per month every month thereafter while on probation. However, Parto’s failure to pay the $11,000 in restitution by sentencing, or failure to make any monthly payment of $1,000 while on probation may result in a re-sentence of up to 1 year in jail. Elisa’s Food & Plus, Inc. will be sentenced to a 1 year conditional discharge and a $500 fine.
The case was investigated by Attorney General Investigator Edward Ortiz , Investigator Luis Carter, Deputy Chief Vito Spano and Chief Investigator Dominic Zarella. The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Matthew Ross, led by Labor Bureau Criminal Section Chief Richard Balletta, led by Bureau Chief is Terri Gerstein. The Executive Deputy Attorney General for Social Justice is Alvin Bragg.