Workers for Mama Mexico restaurant owner Juan Rojas Campos claim the former dishwasher has forgotten he used to be one of them – and is cheating them out of wages.
In a proposed federal class action lawsuit, seven workers accuse Campos of violating federal wage and labor laws by refusing to pay them overtime.
“Mr. Campos seems to have forgotten his humble beginnings and the struggles of low-wage restaurant workers trying to make ends meet,” wrote the workers’ attorney, Justin M. Swartz.
An immigrant from Puebla, Mexico, Campos brags on his Web site about his “tenacity and wisdom in the restaurant business.”
He is an ardent supporter of Mayor Bloomberg, who in May touted Campos’ endorsement of his reelection campaign.
The lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court also accuses Campos of denying the workers minimum wage and forcing them to share tips with higherups.
The workers include servers, bussers and bartenders who worked at two Mama Mexico locations in the city and one in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.