UPPER WEST SIDE — A comedy club that has hosted stand-up legends ranging from Jerry Seinfeld to Chris Rock wasn't joking around when it illegally forced its servers to work only for tips and then skimmed a portion of their take, a new lawsuit claims.
Former Stand Up NY servers Aigner Bazunu and LaReisha Reynolds, both of whom stopped working for the club in December, say they weren't paid any wages, had their tips dipped into by the club's owners and managers, and weren't paid legally for shifts that lasted longer than 10 hours.
The 30-year-old club at 236 W. 78th St. near Broadway "systematically ignored" the federal Fair Labors Standards Act and the New York Labor Law in how it paid employees, according to the lawsuit filed on Jan. 21 in U.S. District Court.
Stand Up NY does not pay waitstaff hourly wages, but instead pays them a cut of the tips left by customers — a practice that is illegal under New York State law, according to the suit.
During the time Bazunu and Reynolds were working at the club, between June and December of last year, tipped workers were required to receive at least $5 an hour, a rate that was bumped up to $7.50 as of Dec. 31, 2015.
When Bazunu objected to the practice in August, managers told her "she should not complain" about not receiving an hourly wage, because her pay exceeded the tipped minimum wage, the suit states.
The women also allege that the club was illegally cutting into their tip pool, on which they depended on.
The club has a mandatory 18 percent gratuity charge on each guests' two-drink minimum and on any food ordered during the show, the suit says.
However, this gratuity gets distributed evenly among all waitstaff only after the club has taken a 20 to 30 percent cut and managers have taken a 2 percent cut, the suit states.
This practice of "skimming" the tip pool violates New York wage law, as does the club's practice of deducting from this tip pool if a customer walks out on the tab, the suit states.
At least twice a month, Bazunu and Reynolds worked shifts longer than 10 hours but were not given "spread-of-hours pay," an additional hour's pay that the state requires for shifts that long, the suit alleges.
Bazunu and Reynolds are seeking the unpaid minimum wages, spread-of-hours compensation, damages of between $50 and $2,500 for each week the wage violations occurred while they were working, and attorneys' fees.
They're also looking for the court to offer participation in the suit to any employees who worked at Stand Up NY in the past six years and any financial "relief as the Court deems just and proper."
Stand Up NY's owners did not return a request for comment.
