45. Defendants own and operate two Mexican restaurants and one deli in the Bronx, New York, named “Huaxcuaxtla Restaurant,” “El Cerrito Restaurant,” and “Comercial  Mexicana.”   46. Huaxcuaxtla and El Cerrito serve and deliver their food to customers throughout the Bronx.   47. Comercial Mexicana is a deli that serves food and sells groceries as well as other everyday items to the public.   48. Upon information and belief, between both restaurants and the deli, Defendants employ a staff of approximately 20 employees at any given time.   49. Employees of the Restaurants hold various titles, including, inter alia: (i) Cook; (ii) Assistant Cook; (iii) Washer; (iv) Delivery Worker; (v) Server; (vi) Busser; and (vii) Cashier  (collectively, “Restaurant Employees”).   50. The Restaurant Employees typically work an average of 50 to 70 hours per week, with some working as many as 77 hours per week.  B. Failure to Pay Minimum, Overtime, and Spread of Hours Wages  52.  Defendants systematically deny Restaurant Employees wages in several ways.   53.  First, Defendants pay all Restaurant Employees at rates that are drastically below  the applicable federal and State minimum wage rates during the relevant time period.    54.  This common unlawful compensation scheme is communicated to Restaurant  Employees and carried out by Crisantos and Romero directly.    55.  Defendants’ practice results in Restaurant Employees being paid well below the  applicable federal and State minimum wage for an average of 50 to 70 hours per week.    56.  Second, Defendants never pay any of their Restaurant Employees at a rate of one  and one-half times the applicable federal and State minimum wage rates for any of their hours  worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek.   57.  In other words, Defendants completely deny all Restaurant Employees, some who  work over 70 hours per week, any overtime compensation at all.   58.  Third, Defendants do not provide any of their Restaurant Employees with “spread  of hours pay” when they work more than 10 hours a day – i.e., an additional hour of pay at the  applicable State minimum wage rate on each day where the length of interval between the  beginning and end of an employees’ work day exceeds 10 hours.  C.  Failure to Provide Notices of Pay Rate and Accurate Wage Statements   60.  Throughout the statutory period, Defendants have never provided any of the  Restaurant Employees with a Notice of Pay Rate.    61.  The NYLL also requires that Defendants furnish the Restaurant Employees with  accurate wage statements with each payment of wages.   62.  Throughout the statutory period, Defendants have never furnished any wage  statements at all to any of the Restaurant Employees.  D.  Plaintiff Adela Molina  i.  Background   63.  Adela Molina worked at the Restaurants as an Assistant Cook, Delivery Worker,  Server, Washer, and Cashier from approximately January 2010 through in or around January 2020.   64.  Some of Ms. Molina’s duties as an Assistant Cook, Delivery Worker, Server,  Washer, and Cashier included the following: serving food to the Restaurants’ customers; cleaning  the Restaurants’ dining areas, kitchens, and bathrooms; restocking the Restaurants with supplies;  managing the cash register; making food deliveries to the Restaurants’ customers; answering the  Restaurants’ phones; and assisting the Cooks in meal preparation.   66.  During this time, Ms. Molina consistently worked approximately 10 to 10.50 hours  per day and approximately 60 to 63 hours per week.   67.  From approximately January 2018 through January 2020, Ms. Molina generally  worked five (5) days a week, from approximately 8:00 a.m. until approximately 6:00 p.m. or from  6:00 p.m. until approximately 4:00 a.m., but often worked an additional 15 to 30 minutes past the  end of her shifts cleaning the Restaurants.     68.  During this time, Ms. Molina consistently worked approximately 10 to 10.50 hours  per day and approximately 50 to 52.50 hours per week.  ii.  Wage Violations   69.  Beginning in approximately January 2014, Defendants informed Ms. Molina that  they would pay her only $40.00 per day for working approximately 10 to 10.50 hours – amounting  to only $4.00 to $3.80 per hour – significantly below the federal and the applicable State minimum  wage rates.   70.  Indeed, from approximately January 2014 through December 2015 and January  2017 through December 2017, Ms. Molina was paid $240.00 for working six (6) days a week.   71.  This resulted in Ms. Molina being paid well below federal and the applicable State  minimum wage rate for as many as 63 hours in a given week.    72.  Ms. Molina was not paid any spread of hours pay for any shifts that she worked  which exceeded 10 hours in length.    73.  Further, Ms. Molina was never paid one and one-half times the applicable State  minimum wage rate for any hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek.   75. For this week alone, Defendants failed to pay Ms. Molina an additional $420.00 in minimum wages1 and $110.00 in overtime wages.2   76. Starting in January 2018, Ms. Molina began working five (5) days a week.  77. Around this time, Defendants also increased her compensation to $75.00 per day for working approximately 10 to 10.50 hours – amounting to only $7.50 to $7.14 per hour.   78. Indeed, starting in January 2018, Ms. Molina was paid $375.00 for working five (5) days a week.  79. Despite the increased compensation, Defendants continued to deny Ms. Molina compensation at or above the applicable State minimum wage rate and sometimes even the federal  minimum wage rate.   80. Moreover, Defendants continued to withhold spread of hours pay when Ms. Molina worked more than 10 hours per day.   81. Defendants similarly continued their common policy and scheme to never pay Ms. Molina any overtime compensation for hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek.   82. By way of example, from May 8, 2018 to May 12, 2018, Ms. Molina worked 50 hours and received $375.00 for all 50 hours worked.   83. For this week alone, Defendants failed to pay Ms. Molina an additional $275.00 in minimum wages3 and $65.00 in overtime wages.4   85.  Defendants never provided Ms. Molina with accurate wage statements.   86.  In fact, Ms. Molina was not provided with any wage statements at all.   87.  Ms. Molina had numerous conversations with other Restaurant Employees  throughout the relevant time period, and they have confirmed that Defendants have never furnished  a Notice of Pay Rate, or wage statements to any of the Restaurant Employees.   88.  Through her conversations with other Restaurant Employees, Ms. Molina has  learned that other Restaurant Employees were paid in a similar manner as herself.    89.  Moreover, on occasion, Ms. Molina personally watched Defendants Crisantos and  Romero paying other Restaurant Employees and saw that they were paid in the same manner as  herself.  E.  Plaintiff Leticia Hernandez  i.  Background   90.  Leticia Hernandez worked at the Restaurants as an Assistant Cook, Delivery  Worker, Server, Washer, and Cashier from approximately January 2008 through in or around  January 12, 2018, with intermittent periods therein during which she did not work for Defendants.   91.  Some of Ms. Hernandez’s duties as an Assistant Cook, Delivery Worker, Server,  Washer, and Cashier included the following: serving food to the Restaurants’ customers; cleaning  the Restaurants’ dining areas, kitchens, and bathrooms; restocking the Restaurants with supplies;  managing the cash register; making food deliveries to the Restaurants’ customers; answering the  Restaurants’ phones; and assisting the Cooks in meal preparation.   93.  During this time, Ms. Hernandez consistently worked approximately 10.50 to 11  hours per day and approximately 63 to 77 hours per week.   94.  On several occasions, Ms. Hernandez worked this schedule for entire months  without taking a day off.    95.  From approximately January 2017 through January 2018, Ms. Hernandez generally  worked four (4) to five (5) days a week, from approximately 6:00 p.m. until approximately 4:30  a.m., but often worked until 5:00 a.m. cleaning the Restaurants.      96.  During this time, Ms. Hernandez consistently worked approximately 10.50 to 11  hours per day and approximately 42 to 55 hours per week.  ii.  Wage Violations   97.  Beginning in approximately June 2014, Defendants informed Ms. Hernandez that  they would pay her only $40.00 per day for working approximately 10.50 to 11 hours – amounting  to only $3.80 to $3.63 per hour – significantly below the federal and the applicable State minimum  wage rates.    98.  Indeed, from approximately June 2014 through December 2016, Ms. Hernandez  was paid $240.00 for working six (6) days a week or $280.00 for working seven (7) days a week.    A. Background 