Wage Settlement Reached With Ithaca Pizzeria

Attorney General Spitzer today announced that he has settled an investigation with College Town Pizza, Inc., located at 401 College Avenue in Ithaca, for its failure to pay immigrant kitchen and delivery workers the minimum wage and overtime pay.

The investigation found that between 2001 and 2003 College Town paid several immigrant kitchen and delivery workers sub-minimum wages with no overtime pay. Employees worked for up to 75 hours per week with wages as low as $300.00 per week when State labor laws required wages of at least $ 476.00. In some instances, the employer used employment agencies that cater to immigrants to bring workers from New York City to Ithaca. Workers were promised fair wages and free housing. Such employees did not receive legal wages and were, for a period of time, housed in the restaurant's basement.

"My office has found that immigrant workers are frequent targets of exploitation. That exploitation not only hurts those workers, it drags down labor standards for all New Yorkers. Immigrants are working throughout New York State and my office is committed to enforcing labor laws in Tompkins County and across the state," Spitzer said.

Under the terms of the settlement, Khalid Attia, the owner, will pay t $7,230.00 in restitution for College Town Pizza employees. Also, the restaurant will be subject to monitoring and for the first time will provide paid sick and personal days to employees with over one year's work history.

In recent years the Attorney General's office has aggressively enforced the labor laws on behalf of immigrant workers, collecting over 6 million dollars on behalf of immigrant supermarket delivery persons in New York City and entering into a Code of Conduct on behalf of immigrant workers in the New York City greengrocer industry. More recently, with the assistance of workers' centers like the Tompkins County Workers' Rights Center and the Latino Civic Association of Tompkins County, the office has opened numerous investigation into the conditions of immigrant workers in Central New York.

"I have been very pleased, though hardly surprised, to see Attorney General Spitzer respond to the concerns about the treatment of workers in this case, investigating the allegations, and enforcing our state labor laws. I also applaud the on-going work of the Tompkins County Workers' Rights Center as a resource and strong advocate for local workers, as well as the successful efforts here of the Latino Civic Association," said Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton.

"The Latino Civic Association (LCA) of Tompkins County is satisfied by the settlement reached with College Town Pizzeria," stated LCA President Carlos Gutierrez. "We will continue to work with the immigrant community, the Workers' Rights Center and the Attorney General's office to assure that immigrant workers are fairly treated in their workplace, and that the business community treats them with dignity by paying them according to law, especially when it comes to overtime work and minimum wage issues," said Carlos Gutierrez, President of the Latino Civic Association of Tompkins County.

To report labor law violations or to learn about your rights as a worker and your obligations as an employer, please contact the New York State Attorney General's labor helpline at 1-212-416-8700 or visit our website at: www.ag.ny.gov.

The case was handled Labor Bureau Assistant Attorney General Deborah M. Baumgarten under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Jennifer Brand.