Real estate investor Irving Langer is accused of severely underpaying his building staff and housing them in dilapidated apartments.
Langer, who leads E&M Associates, is accused of paying superintendents at his buildings as little as $3.45 per hour, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan Federal Court.
The two plaintiffs, who were allegedly required to work 80 hours a week, also said they were housed in unsatisfactory conditions, according to the lawsuit, the New York Post reported.
“No bathroom, no sink, no cabinets, no nothing,” one of them, Usvaldo Contrera, told the Post.
The plaintiffs are seeking back wages and overtime pay on behalf of more than 250 workers, their lawyer Marc Rapaport told the Post.
Langer’s firm owns a large portfolio of residential properties throughout the city, 147 buildings and nearly 6,000 units, according to Real Capital Analytics.
That number is in flux though. The firm just entered into contract, with partner Fairstead Capital, to sell their 47-building, 1,181-unit “Dawnay Day” portfolio to Isaac Kassirer for over $350 million, The Real Deal reported this morning. [NYP] – Ariel Stulberg