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Jay-Z’s Nightclub Workers File Class-Action Lawsuit
2-Jul-2008
Written by: Angela Flournoy
Workers at the rapper’s 40/40 Club say their paychecks were withheld.
A class-action lawsuit filed by waitstaff at rapper Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club in Manhattan, alleging that the club violated federal minimum-wage laws, was approved by a Judge, Tuesday, MTV News reports.
Twenty former and current employees of the club that is co-owned by the Hip-Hop mogul claim that they were forced to pay for bottle breakages and were required to pick up the tab for patrons who walked out without paying.
Ron Berkowitz, a spokesman for the 38-year-old rapper, told the New York Post, "The club is not settling this lawsuit because they are innocent. We're taking this to court and we're letting the judge decide."
According to the Post, Celeste Williams, a former 40/40 Club waitress, said the club did not pay workers overtime or minimum wage.
”On a weekly basis, there was no paycheck, which is illegal per the minimum-wage law requirements,” Maimon Kirschenbaum, the lawyer representing Williams, told MTV, “And a lot of the waiters said their paychecks were eaten up by taxes on their tips. But even if that were true, then you would expect them to get some accounting of that.”
Kirschenbaum said he will now try to reach out to more past and present 40/40 Club workers to join the suit. The attorney previously settled a similar suit over employees being forced to pay for bottle breakage against the B. B. King Blues Club in New York for a “significant” amount, MTV reports.
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