A Port Chester restaurant owner pleaded guilty this week to failure to pay employees minimum wage and overtime between 2010 and 2014, according to a release from Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.
Elisa Parto, owner of Elisa’s Food & Plus, Inc. at 73 Poningo Street, was required to pay $47,000 in restitution in unpaid wages. Schneiderman’s office will distribute that restitution to six former employees of the restaurant, which opened for business in 2010. Schneiderman said several cooks, cleaners and cashiers were owed pay dating back to 2010.
Parto and Elisa’s Food & Plus both pleaded guilty in Port Chester Village Court Wednesday to one count of failure to pay wages, a misdemeanor. As part of her guilty plea, Parto will be sentenced to three years of probation and must pay $11,000 in restitution by March 10. She must also pay $1,000 per month afterward until her probation is complete. New York Labor Law requires employers to pay employees no later than seven days after the week when wages were earned.
Elisa’s Food & Plus will be sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge and must pay a $500 fine. Parto will face a possible re-sentence of up to one year in jail should any of the plea agreement requirements not be met. Parto did not pay the legally required minimum wage and overtime to at least one former employee worked close to 70 hours per week between 2012 and 2014, officials said.
“My office has consistently taken a firm stance on minimum wage and overtime violations, including the filing of criminal charges where appropriate,” Schneiderman said. “Protecting the livelihoods of hardworking New Yorkers is a priority for my office and this guilty plea demonstrates that commitment.”
Parto and the corporation are scheduled to be sentenced on March 10.
