| Mendez v Legends Hospitality, LLC |
| 2014 NY Slip Op 02235 [116 AD3d 416] |
| April 1, 2014 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| Janine Mendez et al., Appellants, et al.,
Plaintiffs, v Legends Hospitality, LLC, Respondent, et al., Defendant. |
—[*1]
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLC, Washington, DC (Lawrence D. Levien of
the bar of the District of Columbia, admitted pro hac vice, of counsel), for
respondent.
Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Alexander W. Hunter, Jr., J.), entered July 10, 2013, which granted defendants' motion to dismiss the complaint, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, the motion denied, and the complaint reinstated.
Plaintiffs stated a valid claim under Labor Law § 196-d, not preempted by federal law (see Tamburino v Madison Sq. Garden, L.P., 115 AD3d 217 [1st Dept 2014]). Contrary to the motion court's determination, defendants did not establish that for all of the pertinent period they sufficiently notified patrons that the mandatory service charge at issue was not a gratuity. Concur—Friedman, J.P., Renwick, Moskowitz and Richter, JJ.