Ever Work at Heartland Brewery? Time to Sue!If you’ve worked an hourly job at Heartland Brewery’s six locations (including Spanky’s BBQ) in the past three years, start checking your mailbox. You won’t get an invite to the company Christmas party, but your presence is requested for a class-action lawsuit about minimum wage and overtime. A judge has ruled that attorney Maimon Kirschenbaum can send out the notice, which he’s taking as a positive sign: “The court bought into the fact that corruption, if there, applied equally to everyone at every location.” So if you feel ripped off, join eighteen of your former colleagues and place your order with the American legal system.
Memorandum & Order: Peter Fasanelli v. Heartland Brewery [PDF]
Earlier: Legal Battle on Tap for Heartland Brewery
Openings
Spiegeltent Gives New Reason to Visit South Street SeaportNow in its second year, the Spiegeltent at South Street Seaport is already becoming a summer standby akin to the Cyclone and ducking out of the office to quaff ’seccers at Café St. Barts (fashion girls, see you for lunch). This year grub provider Heartland Brewery has stepped things up in the food department and, under giant umbrellas near the performance tent, is serving entrées like poached lobster and crabmeat gazpacho in addition to the usual brews and booze available at the adjacent bar and outdoor beer garden. The Green Room, as the makeshift restaurant is called, is open daily from 5 p.m. (last seating at 1 a.m.), and there will be the occasional D.J. or live-music act. Given the marching bands and individual waterside hammocks, it’s safe to say this is one lobster-roll-serving eatery that isn’t a copycat.
The Green Room menu
The Green Room, South Street Seaport, 19 Fulton St., at South St.; 212-730-016.
NewsFeed
Legal Battle on Tap for Heartland BreweryBeer foam may not be the only thing Heartland Brewery is skimming: A class-action lawsuit alleges that management has cheated its part-timers out of pay, systematically shaving time off of punch-card records, failing to cough up overtime, and forcing those who worked private parties to pool any tips they received above the mandatory gratuity. The end result, the suit claims, is that employees were paid less than federal minimum wage.
