Owner and manager of Grimaldi’s Pizzeria are accused of wage theft

The owner of Grimaldi’s Pizzeria and the manager of the Manhattan branch were arrested Thursday and charged with stealing more than $20,000 in wages from at least seven employees.

Over the course of at least four years, the owner, Anthony Piscina, 63, and the manager, Frank Santora, 71, lied to and exploited pizza makers, salad preparers, busboys and dishwashers, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg. said at a news conference.

According to court documents, the seven workers each owe between $500 and $8,000.

“What may seem like a relatively small dollar amount to some can have life-changing consequences when someone earns minimum wage,” Mr. Bragg said.

Both men pleaded not guilty to one felony count of fraud and seven misdemeanor counts of wage theft. They were released without bail after their arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court Thursday afternoon.

Gerard Marrone, a lawyer representing both Mr Piscina and Mr Santora, said the men were “blindsided” by the allegations and were not fully aware of the charges against them until hours after their arrest.

“It could be a misunderstanding between my customers and their employees. My customers run multiple locations of Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, but they probably don’t even know it,” said Mr. Marrone. “They have a payroll department that does the work for them, so they were completely unaware of that.”

Defrauded employees, almost all of whom were native Spanish speakers, sent numerous text messages to Mr. Piscina and Mr. Santora begging to be paid, court documents show.

“Please, I have an emergency, my grandmother passed away. I need my money please,” one text read, according to court documents.

“I definitely need money to pay my rent, please,” another message read.

But between August 2017 and August 2023, Mr. Piscina and Mr. Santora gave workers paychecks that later bounced, offered them less than minimum wage and in some cases did not pay them in full, Mr. Bragg said. In some cases, the men persuaded employees to continue working by sending them partial payments through the app Zelle and making arrangements with employees to pay owed wages, but then never showed up, prosecutors said.

One busboy was promised a rate of $10 an hour – well below that New York City’s minimum wage $15 an hour at the time, but was never paid and still owed about $8,000, prosecutors said.

After a former employee said he planned to hire a lawyer, Mr. Piscina boasted, “I have three complaints about me. The state is not going to do anything,” according to court documents. Prosecutors said Mr. Piscina told the same employee, who is Mexican, that he could not wear a hat with the American flag.

Grimaldi’s, which serves coal-fired pizza, first opened in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood. The family business now has more than 40 branches throughout the country, according to the restaurant’s website.

Mr. Piscina and Mr. Santora appeared stunned at their arraignment Thursday afternoon.

“Oh my God, this is bizarre,” Mr. Piscina said as he walked out of the courtroom.

Their lawyer, Mr. Marrone, said Mr. Piscina and Mr. Santora were “good guys” who would be willing to pay workers the wages they are owed.

During the press conference on Thursday, Mr Bragg said many cases of wage theft go unreported.

“In these cases there is a power asymmetry. There is an understandable reluctance among many people to come forward,” he said. “It is devastatingly unfair to workers and others in the fair open market who play by the rules.”

Wage theft is a widespread problem, but low-wage workers who are undocumented or do not speak English as their native language are particularly vulnerable, said Tito Sinha, an attorney who leads the workers’ rights team at the nonprofit TakeRoot Justice.

“They are more likely to take work that is below the minimum wage, otherwise they may not know what the laws are,” Mr Sinha said.