NY Hotels Underpay Immigrant Employees, Class Action Claims

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A class action lawsuit filed against several hotels in New York City alleges that they have contracted with a company called Apple Commuter Inc. to supply the hotels with cheap labor from young, female immigrants. The complaint states that Apple Commuter Inc. is run by defendant Birah Shah to provide hotels both airport drivers and concierge desk staff.

“After luring the women in with promises of a better future, Defendant Shah exploits them by mandating that they work unspeakable hours in consideration for legally insufficient and morally reprehensible compensation,” according to the class action. The complaint continues, “[t]he slightest objections are met with threats, scare tactics, and intimidation, so as to allow the Defendants to continue to capitalize on these women.”

The NY hotel concierge labor violations class action lawsuit asserts that Apple Commuter employees are compelled to work at least five to seven days per week, often over 12 hours per day, for only $5 per hour (and no overtime pay). The complaint argues that this violates the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as New York state labor laws.

The class action claims that the following New York hotels have contracted with defendants Shah and Apple Commuter to provide cheap concierge services: Edison Hotel, Hilton Hotel 54, Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn-Chelsea, La Quinta, Wolcott Hotel, St. James Hotel, TRYP by Wyndham, Shoreham Hotel, Hotel Carter, Hilton Garden Inn-Manhattan, Executive Hotel Le Soliel New York, and Holiday Inn Express.

The complaint claims that these women are “for all intents and purposes, employees of the hotels.” They only work at the hotels and they take orders from hotel management. The class action argues that the only reason the hotels contract with Shah and Apple Commuter is to attempt to get around labor laws.

The NY hotel concierge labor violations class action lawsuit alleges that Shah, Apple Commuter, and the defendant Hotels were required to pay these employees at least minimum wage, and to pay them time-and-a-half for every hour they worked over 40 hours per week. In addition, the employees should have been paid for an extra hour every time they worked more than 10 hours in a day, under the New York “spread of hours” law, according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs are Leila Botakhanova, Yulia Gradoboeva, and Inga Dolgova. All three state that they worked for Shah and Apple Commuter between 2015 and the present, and were not properly paid for their work. The complaint describes their work as answering telephones, confirming reservations, greeting guests, arranging transportation, and other activities for hotel guests.

The labor violations lawsuit asks for certification of three subclasses, one for all Apple Commuter employees who were not paid minimum wage, another for all employees who were not paid overtime, and the third for all employees who were not paid for the “spread of hours.” In addition, the complaint states that its allegation of federal FLSA violations should be a collective bargaining action on behalf of all employees. The class action seeks back wages for each violation, as well as punitive and statutory damages.

The plaintiffs are represented by Kateryna Stupnevich and Vano Haroutunian of Ballon Stoll Bader & Nadler PC.

The NY Hotels Concierge Labor Violations Class Action Lawsuit is Leila Botakhanova, et al. v. Apple Commuter Inc., et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-04296, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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