Restaurant owner sentenced in wage case

The owner of a New Rochelle restaurant, Hurley”™s Steakhouse and Pub, has been sentenced to three years of probation for not paying a total of $23,114 in wages to eight employees, according to Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah.

Paul Hurley also was ordered to pay full restitution to the employees. Rocah reported that he had entered a guilty plea in June to charges of failing to pay wages, a misdemeanor, before Judge Alexandra Murphy in Westchester County Court.  The infractions occurred between October 2018 and June 2019.  Rocah”™s office had arrested the Hurley on Feb. 5, 2020, following an investigation conducted by the New York State Department of Labor and the Economic Crimes Bureau of the District Attorney”™s Office.

“Low-wage workers are the invisible labor force and more vulnerable to wage theft. Not paying these workers, who are already earning low wages, is an egregious exploitation of hardworking people and it is a crime,”Â Rocah said. “The dedicated attorneys and investigators in my office are committed to cracking down on bad actors who deny workers their pay, and protecting workers in Westchester County.”Â 

Rocah said that the state”™s Wage Theft Task Force has produced hundreds of agreements and convictions secured statewide requiring more than a dozen businesses and 265 individuals to pay nearly $3 million in wage restitution and contributions for unemployment insurance and withholding taxes owed to workers and New York state. Rocah”™s office is part of the Wage Theft Task Force with the New York State Department of Labor, the New York State Attorney General and other district attorney offices across the state.  

Rocah noted that the public can report any instances of wage theft and labor crimes to the state or directly to her office. She added that her office offers language assistance and does not ask about employee documentation status.