BK Line Cook Fired For Pointing Out Discrimination, Lawsuit Says

FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — A Black Marine veteran says a Brooklyn restaurant where he worked for more than a decade fired him for asking why his white coworkers were paid more than him, a new lawsuit claims.

Eddy Luc, who worked at the Farm on Adderley in Flatbush, has filed a $600,000 class-action lawsuit against the restaurant for years of wage discrimination and failure to pay overtime hours, according to the suit.

The suit, filed in August, claims Luc's boss fired him shortly after Luc started asking why his white coworkers, who had less experience, were making $5 more per hour. About $400,000 of the money he demands from the eatery is for damages for the discrimination.

“Equal pay for equal work. Race should never be a factor in determining an individuals salary," Luc's attorney, Tyrone Blackburn told Patch. "It is unfortunate that the Farm on Adderley uses race as a basis for their employment compensation decisions.”

Luc, a father of two, started working at the Farm on Adderley in 2008 as a "Salad Guy," though his roles spanned dishwasher, pastry cook, station cleaner and, most recently, line cook, until he was let go in 2019, according to the suit.

The marine veteran was fired shortly after asking his boss, identified in court documents as Steven Hublle, who worked as the head chef, why two white coworkers were making $20 and hour when he only made $15, the suit claims.

Luc had trained one of the white coworkers and held a decade-plus more experience, according to the suit. He also was the only employee to hold a "Food Handler's Permit," the suit says.

"When Mr. Luc questioned his manager, Defendant Hublle about the discrepancy in pay, Defendant Hublle could not point to any bona fide factor other than race and gender to justify the pay difference," the suit reads.

New York law requires employees' wages be determined by a seniority system, a merit system, a system that measures quality or quantity of production or "any bona fide factor is other than race such as education, training, or experience."

On top of the alleged discrimination, Luc's lawsuit also demands $200,000 in overtime pay from the restaurant.

The restaurant denies both allegations and told Patch they plan to dispute the lawsuit to "prove that these allegations never took place."

“The Farm on Adderley is surprised and very saddened by the false allegations of discrimination and wage law violations. We have always valued and promoted equal employment opportunity, celebrating diversity of all races, genders, and sexual orientations," they said. "...We respectfully defer to the legal system for justice to prevail and will continue to focus our energy and passion in serving the community.”

In the overtime claims, the lawsuit alleges that Luc would routinely work nine to 11 hour days without getting overtime pay. Nearly 50 pages of the lawsuit is dedicated to a table laying out six-years worth of owed hours.

According to Blackburn, the $200,000 is only a fraction of what Luc lost by working at the restaurant, given that New York statute only allows a lawsuit to go back six years.

“When we work we have an expectation to be paid," Blackburn said. "Wage theft has been illegal for a very long time, and we will get from the Farm on Adderley what Mr. Luc is owed and more.”

Although Luc is the only plaintiff, the suit is filed on behalf of all Farm of Adderley employees who might have had a similar experience. Not paying overtime — meant to be one-and-a-half pay for any time worked more than 40 hours per week — was a common practice at the restaurant, the suit claims.

"Plaintiff Luc is prepared to reveal how managers and supervisors would go into the Timecard System and change the punch in and punch out times of the kitchen workers," it reads.

"This illegal act reduces the employees daily and weekly hours worked. Mr. Luc would then have to beg and plead with his supervisor and managers to pay him his time. Unfortunately for Mr. Luc the payments never came."