Preview
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 10/15/2020 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/15/2020
EXHIBIT A
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020
10/15/2020 06:02
10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 113
187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2020
10/15/2020
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF QUEENS
GANG LI, on behalf of himself and allpersons
similarly situated,
Index No. 713860/2018
Plaintiff,
- against -
NOTICE OF MOTION FOR
KUENG CHAN, MAY TONG, SIMON CHAN, CLASS CERTIFICATION
FEN ZHEN CHEN a/k/a FENG ZHEN CHEN,
WING KEUNG ENTERPRISES, INC. d/b/a WK FOODS,
and WK TRUCKING LLC. d/b/WK FOODS.
Defendants.
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that upon the annexed Affirmation of Heng Wang, Esq. dated
March 9, 2020, and the supporting exhibits annexed thereto, the Memorandum of Law in
Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification, and upon the pleadings and proceedings
heretofore had herein, counsel for Plaintiff Gang Li will move this Court at the Courthouse
located at 88-11 Sutphin Blvd, Jamaica, NY 11435, in Part 12, Courtroom 42, on March 31, 2020,
at 9:30 am or as soon as counsel may be heard, for an Order granting Plaintiff's Motion for Class
Certification, and for such other and further relief as may be just and proper.
PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that, pursuant to CPLR 2214(b), opposition papers,
if any, must be served upon the undersigned at least seven (7) days before the return date
mentioned above.
Date: New York, NY
March 9, 2020
By: Heng Wang, Esq.
Heng Wang & Associates, P.C.
305 Broadway, Suite 1000
1 of 2
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020
10/15/2020 06:02
10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 113
187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2020
10/15/2020
New York, NY 10007
Tel: (212) 203-5231
Fax: (212) 203-5237
heng.wang@wanggaolaw.com
Attorneys for Plaintiff and the proposed class
To:
Carolyn Shields
Liu & Shields LLP
41-60 Main Street, Suite 208A
Flushing, NY 11355
Tel: 718-463-1868
Email: shieldscj524@gmail.com
Tom M. Fini, Esq.
Catafago Fini LLP
The Empire State Building
350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 7710
New York, New York 10118
Tel: 212-239-9669
Email: tom@catafagofini.com
2 of 2
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020
10/15/2020 06:02
10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 114
187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2020
10/15/2020
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF QUEENS
x
GANG LI, on behalf of himself and all persons
similarly situated,
Index No. 713860/2018
Plaintiff,
- -
against AFFIRMATION OF HENG WANG
IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR
KEUNG CHAN, MAY TONG, SIMON CHAN, CLASS CERTIFICATION
FEN ZHEN CHEN a/k/a FENG ZHEN CHEN,
WING KEUNG ENTERPRISES, INC. d/b/a WK FOODS,
and WK TRUCKING LLC. d/b/WK FOODS.
Defendants.
x
I, Heng Wang, Esq., an attorney duly admitted to practice before this Court, hereby
affirm under penalty of perjury, as follows:
1. I represent Plaintiff Gang Li in the above-entitled action, and as such, I am familiar with
this fact and circumstances surrounding this matter. I make this affirmation in support
of Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification.
2. This action was commenced on September 8, 2018. It isa wage and hour lawsuit where
the plaintiff seeks to recover unpaid wages and other damages under the New York
Labor Law.
3. Attached hereto Exhibit A is the Amended Class Action Complaint filed on December
26, 2019, which is the plaintiff's current operative pleading.
4. All defendants answered the Amended Class Action Complaint on January 15, 2020.
5. Attached hereto as Exhibit B isDefendant Simon Chan's Answer to the Amended Class
Action Complaint.
defendants'
6. Attached hereto as Exhibit C isthe other Answer to the Amended Class
Action Complaint.
1
1 of 5
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020
10/15/2020 06:02
10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 114
187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2020
10/15/2020
7. I am also an attorney representing the plaintiffs in Chaohui Tang, et al v. Wing Keung
Enterprises, Inc., Case No. 14-cv-390 (the "Tang Litigation"), Jun Kong v. Wing Keung
Enterprises, Inc., Case No. 15-cv-6228 (the "Kong Litigation"), and Jian Cheng Liu, et al.
v. Keung Chan, et al.,Case No. 18-cv-5044 (the "Liu Litigation").
8. In each of the above-mentioned lawsuits, the plaintiffs asserted similar wage an hour
claims against the same employer Wing Keung Enterprises, Inc. ("WK"), such as
minimum wages, overtime wages, and Wage Theft Prevention Act claims pursuant to
the statutory requirements under the labor laws.
9. The Litigation and the Kong Litigation have been brought to conclusion. The
Tang
plaintiffs prevailed in both cases. The Liu Litigation is currently pending.
10. The plaintiffs in the Tang Litigation prevailed at a jury trial in 2017.
11. In the Kong Litigation, a significant Consent Judgment was entered in the plaintiff's
favor, wherein the defendants admitted liability.
12. Attached hereto as Exhibit D is the $525,419.04 judgment entered in the Tang Litigation
on May 17, 2017.
13. Attached hereto as Exhibit E is the $800,000.00 consent judgment entered in the Kong
Litigation on August 6, 2018.
14. Attached hereto as Exhibit F are sample records produced by the defendants in the Tang
records"
Litigation. They are part of the voluminous "employment presented at the jury
trialfor the Tang Litigation. These time records appear to be genuine and well kept, but
defendants'
they were actually created pursuant to the fraudulent recordkeeping
plaintiffs'
practice which the plaintiffs proved at trial. Notably, the jury adopted the oral
defendants' records"
testimonies, disregarded the purported "employment which are
2
2 of 5
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020
10/15/2020 06:02
10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 114
187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2020
10/15/2020
the same kind of records produced by Defendants in the instant case, and awarded
significant damages to the plaintiffs.
15. Attached hereto as Exhibit G are sample records produced by the defendants in the
Kong Litigation.
16. Attached hereto as Exhibit H are sample time records produced by the defendants in the
instant matter.
17. Attached hereto as Exhibit I are payroll records produced by the defendants in the
instant matter.
plaintiffs'
18. Attached hereto as Exhibit I are excerpts from the transcript of the testimonies
in the trialof the Tang Litigation.
19. Attached hereto as Exhibit K are excerpts from the transcript of Defendant Simon
Chan's testimonies in the trial of the Tang Litigation.
20. Attached hereto as Exhibit L is an affidavit of Plaintiff Gang Li.
21. Attached hereto as Exhibit M is a Declaration of Chaohui Tang (without exhibits).
22. Attached hereto as Exhibit N is another Declaration of Chaohui Tang (without exhibits)
23. Attached hereto as Exhibit O is a Declaration of Qing Ze Liu (without exhibits).
24. Attached hereto as Exhibit P is another Declaration of Qing Ze Liu (without exhibits).
25. Attached hereto as Exhibit Q is a Declaration of Jian Liu (without exhibits).
26. Attached hereto as Exhibit R isa Declaration of Jian Lin Li (without exhibits).
27. Attached hereto as Exhibit S is a Declaration of Jun Kong (without exhibits).
28. Attached hereto as Exhibit T isa New York State Department of Labor Opinion Letter.
29. Attached hereto as Exhibit U is a sample employment application form.
30. Attached hereto as Exhibit V is a proposed Notice of Pendency of Class Action Lawsuit
regarding Wages.
3
3 of 5
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020
10/15/2020 06:02
10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 114
187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2020
10/15/2020
31. It isclear that the same employment practices applied to all these plaintiffs, including
Plaintiff Gang Li in this matter and the proposed class.
32. In each of the above-mentioned wage and hour litigation lawsuit, the defendants
records"
produced similar "employment for the plaintiffs created pursuant to the
defendants'
fraudulent recordkeeping practice.
33. The numerous exhibits attached to this motion support a finding that Defendants
engaged in company-wide wage and hour violations.
34. Heng Wang & Associates, P.C. concentrates its practices on wage and hour litigation.
35. The undersigned has been lead counsel in a multitude of wage and hour litigation cases
in both New York and New Jersey, including large scale class/collective action wage
and hour litigation.
36. The undersigned has repeatedly obtained large recovery on behalf of the plaintiffs in
wage and hour litigation, and have received praises from judges due to skillful and
effective handling of the cases. For instance, the Honorable Jack. B. Weinstein, who
presided over the trial of the Tang Litigation, regarded the undersigned as "a highly
attorney," involved."
skilled who "had a fine understanding of the labor law
37. Based on discovery obtained in this litigation and the prior litigation, the vast majority
of the workers employed by WK are Chinese. In fact, all the individual defendants are
also Chinese.
38. The undersigned was born and raised in China, and thus speaks fluent Chinese, which is
the same language spoken by the Plaintiff and the vast majority of the members of the
proposed class.
39. This firm has sufficient resources to prosecute this action on behalf of the Plaintiff and
the proposed class.
4
4 of 5
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020
10/15/2020 06:02
10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 114
187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2020
10/15/2020
Dated: March 9, 2020
Heng Wang & Associates, P.C.
305 Broadway, Suite 1000
New York, NY 10007
Tel: (212) 203-5231
Fax: (212) 203-5237
By: Heng Wang, Esq.
Counsel for Plaintiff and the proposed class
5
5 of 5
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020
10/15/2020 06:02
10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 115
187 RECEIVEDINDEXNYSCEF:
NO. 03/13/2020
10/15/2020
713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/26/2019
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF QUEENS
x
GANG LI, on behalf of hirnself and all persorts
similarly situated,
Index No, 713860/2018
Plaintiff,
- -
against AMENDED CLASS
ACTION COMPLAINT
KEUNG CHAN, MAY TONG, SIMON. CHAN
FEN ZHEN CHEN a/k/a FENG ZHEN CHEN,
WING KEUNG ENTERPRISES, INC. d/bfa WK FOODS,
and WK TRUCKING LLC. d/b/WK FOODS,
Defendants.
. x
Plaintiff GANG LI, by and through her attorneys Heng Wang & Associates, P.C., hereby
elleges upon information and belief as follows:
INTRODUCTION
1. Plaintiff alleges on behalf of himself and on behá1f of other similarly situated current
and former employees of Defendants pursuant to the New York Labor Law and its
regulations that other thingsa they are entitled to unpaid wages
supporting ainong
for hours unpaid overtime unpaid minimum unpaid spread-
worked, wages, wages,
of-hours, damages for failure to provide notices and wage statements
statutory
pursuant to Wage Theft Prevention Act, prejudgment interest, post-judgment
interest, and attorney's fees and costs.
THE PARTIES
2. The plaintiff is an individual residing in the State of New York, Queens County.
3. WING KEUNG ENTERPlu$ES, INC. d/b/a WK FOODS ("Wing Keung") is an
entity formed in the State of New York on May 2, 2001.
1
1 of 14
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020
10/15/2020 06:02
10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 115
187 RECEIVEDINDEXNYSCEF:
NO. 03/13/2020
10/15/2020
713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/26/2019
4. Since itsinception, Wing Keung had been operating a wholesale business located at
3140 College Point Blyd, Flushing, NY 11354-2527, until early 2017 when itmoved to
810 South Broadway; Hicksville, NY 11801 to continue itsbusiness.
5. WIs TRUCKING, LLC. d/b/a WK FOODS ("WK") is an entity formed in the State of
New York on May 4, 2017.
6. Wing Keung is a named defendant in a pending Federal litigation in the Eastern
District of New York,Jian et eno. v. et al.,3Case No. 18-cv-
Cheng Liu, Kueng Chan,
5044 ("Lig Litigation"), which was filed on September 12, 2018, Wing Keung had
been previously sued in the same District Court twice before, in:Chaohui Tang , etal
v. Wing Keung Enterprises, Inc., Case No. 14-cy-390 ("T_ang Litigation") and Lun
Kong v. Wing Keang Enterprises, Inc., et al,=Case No. 15-ev-6228 ("K_o__ng Litigation")
by itsformer employees in connection with labor law violations. In both cases,
judgments were entered by the Court against Wing Keung.
7. The plaintiffs in the Tang Litigation prevailed at a trialheld in 2017.
jury February
The judgment in the Tanglitigation was entered on May 17, 2017. The defendants
formed WK less than half a month before said judgment was entered, to transfer
Wing Keung's business and assets to WK, with the intention to defraud the plaintiffs
in Tang Litigation and other workers that had similar claims.
8. Upon infortnation and belief, the defertdants indeed tralisferred at least some
business and assets to WK.
9. Keung Chan is the Chief Executive Officer of both Wing Keung and WK. At all
i·elevant time, Keung Chan maintains control, oversight and direction over the
operation of the business, including itsemployment and pay practices.
2
2 of 14
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020
10/15/2020 06:02
10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 115
187 RECEIVED INDEXNYSCEF:
NO. 03/13/2020
10/15/2020
713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/26/2019
10. Keung Chan and his wife May Tong are shareholders.of Wing Keung, each having
50% ownership interest.
11. Keung Chan is the sole owner of WK.
12. Upon information and belief, Wing Keung and WK conduct the same type of
business, and share manpower and resources.
lady"
13. May Tong is the "boss involved in the management of Wing Kenng and WK.
plaintiffs'
As a manager, she supervised the workers in general the
during
employment, She isresponsible for, among other things, overlooking employees
defendants'
work schedules, compensation, and pay and recordkeeping practices
14. Simon Chan is the son of Keung Chan and May Tong. He managed and oversaw the
defendants'
daily business activities in general as an officer and the General
Manager.
15. Fen Zhen Chen a/k/a Feng Zhen Chen is a General Manager of the.corporate
defendants'
defendants. He managed and oversaw the daily business activities in
general, including supervising the plaintiff's work,
16. The individual defendants, through their exercise of complete dominion over Wing
Keung and WK, have committed a fraud against the plaintiffs.
17. Wing Keung and WK have disregarded the corporate formalities by, among other
things, causing Wing Keung to fraudulently transfer itsbusiness and assets to WK.
18. The defendants have commirigled Wing Kenng and WK's corporate finance with
each other, and with their own personal finance.
19. The defendants were aware of the labor law claims of itsnumerous employees and
former employees, although such claims had not been formally asserted.
3
3 of 14
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020
10/15/2020 06:02
10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 115
187 RECEIVED INDEXNYSCEF:
NO. 03/13/2020
10/15/2020
713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/26/2019
20. Therefore, the defendants set up multiple entities for the purpose of defrauding their
employees and former employees who have claims against the defendants.
21. The defendants are therefore alter-egos of each other, thereby making each jointly
and severally liable to the plaintiff for the damages that the plaintiff has suffered.
22. Other than personal liability available under the labor laws, the Court should also
allow the plaintiffs to pierce the corporate/LLC's veil, and hold all defendants liable.
CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS
23. Plaintiff seeks to prosecute his wage and hour claims as a class action on behalf of all
persons employed by the defendants at allrelevant times, who were not paid
statutory minimum wages, spread-of-hours for every day that they worked in excess
of 10 hours, statutory overtime compensation, statutory wages for hours worked,
and provided the notices and wage statements pursuant to the Wage Theft
Prevention Act.
24. At all relevant times, Plaintiff and other members of the Class were similarly
Defendants'
situated because they have been subject to common practices, policies,
procedures, protocols and plans, including willfully failing and refusing to pay them
the required minimum wage, spread-of-hours, overtime pay, statutory wages for
hours worked, and willfully failing to provide notices and statements pursuant to
the Wage Theft Prevention Act.
25. The Class Members are similarly situated to Plaintiffs in that they were employed by
defendants, and were denied statutory minimum wages, spread-of-hours for every
day that they worked in excess of 10 hours, premium overtime pay for hours worked
beyond forty hours in a week, statutory wages for hours worked, and notices and
4
4 of 14
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020
10/15/2020 06:02
10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 115
187 RECEIVEDINDEXNYSCEF:
NO. 03/13/2020
10/15/2020
713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/26/2019
wage statements pursuant to the Wage Theft Prevention Act.
26. The claims of Plaintiff stated herein are similar to those of the other
employees/former employees.
DEFENDANTS'
THE PERVASIVE AND SYSTEMIC
FRAUDULENT LABOR LAW PRACTICES
27. Evidence unearthed in the Tang Litigation and the Kong Litigation demonsuated the
defendants'
pervasive and=systemic fraudulent3abor law practices.
28. In an effort to escape liability under the labor laws, the defendants used modern
technologies, such as facial tecognition and fingerprint technologies, to create
fraudulent employment records to be used in wage and hour disputes.
29. Meanwhile, the defendants maintained another set of records containedin a
secretly
3-ring binder, which are in direct conflict with the aforementioned "ernployment
records."
30. The defendants required its employees, who generally did not have English ability,
to sign off on fraudulent payroll calculations, in order to create a set of records to be !
used in wage and hours disputes to protect the defendants from lalpor law claims.
31. itwas not until the late stage of the Kong Litiga tlon that the documentary evidence
defendants'
of the fraudulent and systemic fraudulent labor law practices eventually
came to light.
32, The players in their pervasive and systemic fraud include their officer and
key
Gëneral Manager Simon Chan, Gëneral Manager Fen Zhen Chen, bookkeeper Grace
Wong, Keung Chan, and May Tong.
33. Simon Chan played a very significant role in designing and implementing the
defendants'
fraudulent labor law practices. Simon Chan admitted that he managed
5
5 of 14
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020
10/15/2020 06:02
10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 115
187 RECEIVEDINDEXNYSCEF:
NO. 03/13/2020
10/15/2020
713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/26/2019
the defendants payroll department, and helped his parents, to wit, Keung Chan and
May Tong, by setting up and maintaining the company's payroll records. Among
defendants'
other things, he was the one that was involved in the creation of the
"
fraudulent "employment records He would review and finalize the employee's
timesheets, and provide the accompanying fraudulent documents to Grace Wong to
give to the employees. Grace Wong would then present these fraudulent documents
to the employees to obtain their signatures.
34. The Kong Litigation was quickly resolved after the plaintiff discovered evidence of
defendants'
the fraudulent practices and moved for sanctions, A significant
judgment was entered, by consent, in favor of the plaintiff and against the
defendants in the Litigation.
Kong
35. The defendants? systemic fraudulent labor law practices to allof itsworkers
apply
such as drivers, laborers, and movers.
THE FRAUDULENT CONVEYANCE
3.6.On September 12, 2018, at about 8:30 am, after learning of the filing
of the L_iu
Litigation, Defendant May Tong approached Jian Cheng Liu, the plaintiff in that
action, and tried to talk him into dropping the case.
37. During the conversation, among other things, Defendant May Tong stated that the
Da."
defendants had transferred assets to "Lao Defendant Tong alleged that even if
Jian Cheng Liu were to prevail in the Federal litigation, he would not be able to
Defendants'
recover darnages because assets no longer existunder the name,
Da"
38. "Lao is the nickname of Defendant Fen Zhen Chen, a General Manager of the
corporate defendants.
6
6 of 14
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020
10/15/2020 06:02
10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 115
187 RECEIVEDINDEX NYSCEF:
NO. 03/13/2020
713 10/15/2020
8 6 O/ 2 018
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/26/2019
PLAINTIFFS'
FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
39, Plaintiff Gang Li ("Li") was employed by Wing Keung from May 2011 to January 15,
2013.
40. He worked 6 days a week.
Preview
FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 10/15/2020 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/15/2020 EXHIBIT A FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 06:02 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 113 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF QUEENS GANG LI, on behalf of himself and allpersons similarly situated, Index No. 713860/2018 Plaintiff, - against - NOTICE OF MOTION FOR KUENG CHAN, MAY TONG, SIMON CHAN, CLASS CERTIFICATION FEN ZHEN CHEN a/k/a FENG ZHEN CHEN, WING KEUNG ENTERPRISES, INC. d/b/a WK FOODS, and WK TRUCKING LLC. d/b/WK FOODS. Defendants. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that upon the annexed Affirmation of Heng Wang, Esq. dated March 9, 2020, and the supporting exhibits annexed thereto, the Memorandum of Law in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification, and upon the pleadings and proceedings heretofore had herein, counsel for Plaintiff Gang Li will move this Court at the Courthouse located at 88-11 Sutphin Blvd, Jamaica, NY 11435, in Part 12, Courtroom 42, on March 31, 2020, at 9:30 am or as soon as counsel may be heard, for an Order granting Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification, and for such other and further relief as may be just and proper. PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that, pursuant to CPLR 2214(b), opposition papers, if any, must be served upon the undersigned at least seven (7) days before the return date mentioned above. Date: New York, NY March 9, 2020 By: Heng Wang, Esq. Heng Wang & Associates, P.C. 305 Broadway, Suite 1000 1 of 2 FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 06:02 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 113 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 New York, NY 10007 Tel: (212) 203-5231 Fax: (212) 203-5237 heng.wang@wanggaolaw.com Attorneys for Plaintiff and the proposed class To: Carolyn Shields Liu & Shields LLP 41-60 Main Street, Suite 208A Flushing, NY 11355 Tel: 718-463-1868 Email: shieldscj524@gmail.com Tom M. Fini, Esq. Catafago Fini LLP The Empire State Building 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 7710 New York, New York 10118 Tel: 212-239-9669 Email: tom@catafagofini.com 2 of 2 FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 06:02 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 114 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF QUEENS x GANG LI, on behalf of himself and all persons similarly situated, Index No. 713860/2018 Plaintiff, - - against AFFIRMATION OF HENG WANG IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR KEUNG CHAN, MAY TONG, SIMON CHAN, CLASS CERTIFICATION FEN ZHEN CHEN a/k/a FENG ZHEN CHEN, WING KEUNG ENTERPRISES, INC. d/b/a WK FOODS, and WK TRUCKING LLC. d/b/WK FOODS. Defendants. x I, Heng Wang, Esq., an attorney duly admitted to practice before this Court, hereby affirm under penalty of perjury, as follows: 1. I represent Plaintiff Gang Li in the above-entitled action, and as such, I am familiar with this fact and circumstances surrounding this matter. I make this affirmation in support of Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification. 2. This action was commenced on September 8, 2018. It isa wage and hour lawsuit where the plaintiff seeks to recover unpaid wages and other damages under the New York Labor Law. 3. Attached hereto Exhibit A is the Amended Class Action Complaint filed on December 26, 2019, which is the plaintiff's current operative pleading. 4. All defendants answered the Amended Class Action Complaint on January 15, 2020. 5. Attached hereto as Exhibit B isDefendant Simon Chan's Answer to the Amended Class Action Complaint. defendants' 6. Attached hereto as Exhibit C isthe other Answer to the Amended Class Action Complaint. 1 1 of 5 FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 06:02 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 114 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 7. I am also an attorney representing the plaintiffs in Chaohui Tang, et al v. Wing Keung Enterprises, Inc., Case No. 14-cv-390 (the "Tang Litigation"), Jun Kong v. Wing Keung Enterprises, Inc., Case No. 15-cv-6228 (the "Kong Litigation"), and Jian Cheng Liu, et al. v. Keung Chan, et al.,Case No. 18-cv-5044 (the "Liu Litigation"). 8. In each of the above-mentioned lawsuits, the plaintiffs asserted similar wage an hour claims against the same employer Wing Keung Enterprises, Inc. ("WK"), such as minimum wages, overtime wages, and Wage Theft Prevention Act claims pursuant to the statutory requirements under the labor laws. 9. The Litigation and the Kong Litigation have been brought to conclusion. The Tang plaintiffs prevailed in both cases. The Liu Litigation is currently pending. 10. The plaintiffs in the Tang Litigation prevailed at a jury trial in 2017. 11. In the Kong Litigation, a significant Consent Judgment was entered in the plaintiff's favor, wherein the defendants admitted liability. 12. Attached hereto as Exhibit D is the $525,419.04 judgment entered in the Tang Litigation on May 17, 2017. 13. Attached hereto as Exhibit E is the $800,000.00 consent judgment entered in the Kong Litigation on August 6, 2018. 14. Attached hereto as Exhibit F are sample records produced by the defendants in the Tang records" Litigation. They are part of the voluminous "employment presented at the jury trialfor the Tang Litigation. These time records appear to be genuine and well kept, but defendants' they were actually created pursuant to the fraudulent recordkeeping plaintiffs' practice which the plaintiffs proved at trial. Notably, the jury adopted the oral defendants' records" testimonies, disregarded the purported "employment which are 2 2 of 5 FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 06:02 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 114 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 the same kind of records produced by Defendants in the instant case, and awarded significant damages to the plaintiffs. 15. Attached hereto as Exhibit G are sample records produced by the defendants in the Kong Litigation. 16. Attached hereto as Exhibit H are sample time records produced by the defendants in the instant matter. 17. Attached hereto as Exhibit I are payroll records produced by the defendants in the instant matter. plaintiffs' 18. Attached hereto as Exhibit I are excerpts from the transcript of the testimonies in the trialof the Tang Litigation. 19. Attached hereto as Exhibit K are excerpts from the transcript of Defendant Simon Chan's testimonies in the trial of the Tang Litigation. 20. Attached hereto as Exhibit L is an affidavit of Plaintiff Gang Li. 21. Attached hereto as Exhibit M is a Declaration of Chaohui Tang (without exhibits). 22. Attached hereto as Exhibit N is another Declaration of Chaohui Tang (without exhibits) 23. Attached hereto as Exhibit O is a Declaration of Qing Ze Liu (without exhibits). 24. Attached hereto as Exhibit P is another Declaration of Qing Ze Liu (without exhibits). 25. Attached hereto as Exhibit Q is a Declaration of Jian Liu (without exhibits). 26. Attached hereto as Exhibit R isa Declaration of Jian Lin Li (without exhibits). 27. Attached hereto as Exhibit S is a Declaration of Jun Kong (without exhibits). 28. Attached hereto as Exhibit T isa New York State Department of Labor Opinion Letter. 29. Attached hereto as Exhibit U is a sample employment application form. 30. Attached hereto as Exhibit V is a proposed Notice of Pendency of Class Action Lawsuit regarding Wages. 3 3 of 5 FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 06:02 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 114 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 31. It isclear that the same employment practices applied to all these plaintiffs, including Plaintiff Gang Li in this matter and the proposed class. 32. In each of the above-mentioned wage and hour litigation lawsuit, the defendants records" produced similar "employment for the plaintiffs created pursuant to the defendants' fraudulent recordkeeping practice. 33. The numerous exhibits attached to this motion support a finding that Defendants engaged in company-wide wage and hour violations. 34. Heng Wang & Associates, P.C. concentrates its practices on wage and hour litigation. 35. The undersigned has been lead counsel in a multitude of wage and hour litigation cases in both New York and New Jersey, including large scale class/collective action wage and hour litigation. 36. The undersigned has repeatedly obtained large recovery on behalf of the plaintiffs in wage and hour litigation, and have received praises from judges due to skillful and effective handling of the cases. For instance, the Honorable Jack. B. Weinstein, who presided over the trial of the Tang Litigation, regarded the undersigned as "a highly attorney," involved." skilled who "had a fine understanding of the labor law 37. Based on discovery obtained in this litigation and the prior litigation, the vast majority of the workers employed by WK are Chinese. In fact, all the individual defendants are also Chinese. 38. The undersigned was born and raised in China, and thus speaks fluent Chinese, which is the same language spoken by the Plaintiff and the vast majority of the members of the proposed class. 39. This firm has sufficient resources to prosecute this action on behalf of the Plaintiff and the proposed class. 4 4 of 5 FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 06:02 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 114 187 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 Dated: March 9, 2020 Heng Wang & Associates, P.C. 305 Broadway, Suite 1000 New York, NY 10007 Tel: (212) 203-5231 Fax: (212) 203-5237 By: Heng Wang, Esq. Counsel for Plaintiff and the proposed class 5 5 of 5 FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 06:02 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 115 187 RECEIVEDINDEXNYSCEF: NO. 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/26/2019 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF QUEENS x GANG LI, on behalf of hirnself and all persorts similarly situated, Index No, 713860/2018 Plaintiff, - - against AMENDED CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT KEUNG CHAN, MAY TONG, SIMON. CHAN FEN ZHEN CHEN a/k/a FENG ZHEN CHEN, WING KEUNG ENTERPRISES, INC. d/bfa WK FOODS, and WK TRUCKING LLC. d/b/WK FOODS, Defendants. . x Plaintiff GANG LI, by and through her attorneys Heng Wang & Associates, P.C., hereby elleges upon information and belief as follows: INTRODUCTION 1. Plaintiff alleges on behalf of himself and on behá1f of other similarly situated current and former employees of Defendants pursuant to the New York Labor Law and its regulations that other thingsa they are entitled to unpaid wages supporting ainong for hours unpaid overtime unpaid minimum unpaid spread- worked, wages, wages, of-hours, damages for failure to provide notices and wage statements statutory pursuant to Wage Theft Prevention Act, prejudgment interest, post-judgment interest, and attorney's fees and costs. THE PARTIES 2. The plaintiff is an individual residing in the State of New York, Queens County. 3. WING KEUNG ENTERPlu$ES, INC. d/b/a WK FOODS ("Wing Keung") is an entity formed in the State of New York on May 2, 2001. 1 1 of 14 FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 06:02 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 115 187 RECEIVEDINDEXNYSCEF: NO. 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/26/2019 4. Since itsinception, Wing Keung had been operating a wholesale business located at 3140 College Point Blyd, Flushing, NY 11354-2527, until early 2017 when itmoved to 810 South Broadway; Hicksville, NY 11801 to continue itsbusiness. 5. WIs TRUCKING, LLC. d/b/a WK FOODS ("WK") is an entity formed in the State of New York on May 4, 2017. 6. Wing Keung is a named defendant in a pending Federal litigation in the Eastern District of New York,Jian et eno. v. et al.,3Case No. 18-cv- Cheng Liu, Kueng Chan, 5044 ("Lig Litigation"), which was filed on September 12, 2018, Wing Keung had been previously sued in the same District Court twice before, in:Chaohui Tang , etal v. Wing Keung Enterprises, Inc., Case No. 14-cy-390 ("T_ang Litigation") and Lun Kong v. Wing Keang Enterprises, Inc., et al,=Case No. 15-ev-6228 ("K_o__ng Litigation") by itsformer employees in connection with labor law violations. In both cases, judgments were entered by the Court against Wing Keung. 7. The plaintiffs in the Tang Litigation prevailed at a trialheld in 2017. jury February The judgment in the Tanglitigation was entered on May 17, 2017. The defendants formed WK less than half a month before said judgment was entered, to transfer Wing Keung's business and assets to WK, with the intention to defraud the plaintiffs in Tang Litigation and other workers that had similar claims. 8. Upon infortnation and belief, the defertdants indeed tralisferred at least some business and assets to WK. 9. Keung Chan is the Chief Executive Officer of both Wing Keung and WK. At all i·elevant time, Keung Chan maintains control, oversight and direction over the operation of the business, including itsemployment and pay practices. 2 2 of 14 FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 06:02 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 115 187 RECEIVED INDEXNYSCEF: NO. 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/26/2019 10. Keung Chan and his wife May Tong are shareholders.of Wing Keung, each having 50% ownership interest. 11. Keung Chan is the sole owner of WK. 12. Upon information and belief, Wing Keung and WK conduct the same type of business, and share manpower and resources. lady" 13. May Tong is the "boss involved in the management of Wing Kenng and WK. plaintiffs' As a manager, she supervised the workers in general the during employment, She isresponsible for, among other things, overlooking employees defendants' work schedules, compensation, and pay and recordkeeping practices 14. Simon Chan is the son of Keung Chan and May Tong. He managed and oversaw the defendants' daily business activities in general as an officer and the General Manager. 15. Fen Zhen Chen a/k/a Feng Zhen Chen is a General Manager of the.corporate defendants' defendants. He managed and oversaw the daily business activities in general, including supervising the plaintiff's work, 16. The individual defendants, through their exercise of complete dominion over Wing Keung and WK, have committed a fraud against the plaintiffs. 17. Wing Keung and WK have disregarded the corporate formalities by, among other things, causing Wing Keung to fraudulently transfer itsbusiness and assets to WK. 18. The defendants have commirigled Wing Kenng and WK's corporate finance with each other, and with their own personal finance. 19. The defendants were aware of the labor law claims of itsnumerous employees and former employees, although such claims had not been formally asserted. 3 3 of 14 FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 06:02 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 115 187 RECEIVED INDEXNYSCEF: NO. 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/26/2019 20. Therefore, the defendants set up multiple entities for the purpose of defrauding their employees and former employees who have claims against the defendants. 21. The defendants are therefore alter-egos of each other, thereby making each jointly and severally liable to the plaintiff for the damages that the plaintiff has suffered. 22. Other than personal liability available under the labor laws, the Court should also allow the plaintiffs to pierce the corporate/LLC's veil, and hold all defendants liable. CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS 23. Plaintiff seeks to prosecute his wage and hour claims as a class action on behalf of all persons employed by the defendants at allrelevant times, who were not paid statutory minimum wages, spread-of-hours for every day that they worked in excess of 10 hours, statutory overtime compensation, statutory wages for hours worked, and provided the notices and wage statements pursuant to the Wage Theft Prevention Act. 24. At all relevant times, Plaintiff and other members of the Class were similarly Defendants' situated because they have been subject to common practices, policies, procedures, protocols and plans, including willfully failing and refusing to pay them the required minimum wage, spread-of-hours, overtime pay, statutory wages for hours worked, and willfully failing to provide notices and statements pursuant to the Wage Theft Prevention Act. 25. The Class Members are similarly situated to Plaintiffs in that they were employed by defendants, and were denied statutory minimum wages, spread-of-hours for every day that they worked in excess of 10 hours, premium overtime pay for hours worked beyond forty hours in a week, statutory wages for hours worked, and notices and 4 4 of 14 FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 06:02 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 115 187 RECEIVEDINDEXNYSCEF: NO. 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/26/2019 wage statements pursuant to the Wage Theft Prevention Act. 26. The claims of Plaintiff stated herein are similar to those of the other employees/former employees. DEFENDANTS' THE PERVASIVE AND SYSTEMIC FRAUDULENT LABOR LAW PRACTICES 27. Evidence unearthed in the Tang Litigation and the Kong Litigation demonsuated the defendants' pervasive and=systemic fraudulent3abor law practices. 28. In an effort to escape liability under the labor laws, the defendants used modern technologies, such as facial tecognition and fingerprint technologies, to create fraudulent employment records to be used in wage and hour disputes. 29. Meanwhile, the defendants maintained another set of records containedin a secretly 3-ring binder, which are in direct conflict with the aforementioned "ernployment records." 30. The defendants required its employees, who generally did not have English ability, to sign off on fraudulent payroll calculations, in order to create a set of records to be ! used in wage and hours disputes to protect the defendants from lalpor law claims. 31. itwas not until the late stage of the Kong Litiga tlon that the documentary evidence defendants' of the fraudulent and systemic fraudulent labor law practices eventually came to light. 32, The players in their pervasive and systemic fraud include their officer and key Gëneral Manager Simon Chan, Gëneral Manager Fen Zhen Chen, bookkeeper Grace Wong, Keung Chan, and May Tong. 33. Simon Chan played a very significant role in designing and implementing the defendants' fraudulent labor law practices. Simon Chan admitted that he managed 5 5 of 14 FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 06:02 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 115 187 RECEIVEDINDEXNYSCEF: NO. 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/26/2019 the defendants payroll department, and helped his parents, to wit, Keung Chan and May Tong, by setting up and maintaining the company's payroll records. Among defendants' other things, he was the one that was involved in the creation of the " fraudulent "employment records He would review and finalize the employee's timesheets, and provide the accompanying fraudulent documents to Grace Wong to give to the employees. Grace Wong would then present these fraudulent documents to the employees to obtain their signatures. 34. The Kong Litigation was quickly resolved after the plaintiff discovered evidence of defendants' the fraudulent practices and moved for sanctions, A significant judgment was entered, by consent, in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendants in the Litigation. Kong 35. The defendants? systemic fraudulent labor law practices to allof itsworkers apply such as drivers, laborers, and movers. THE FRAUDULENT CONVEYANCE 3.6.On September 12, 2018, at about 8:30 am, after learning of the filing of the L_iu Litigation, Defendant May Tong approached Jian Cheng Liu, the plaintiff in that action, and tried to talk him into dropping the case. 37. During the conversation, among other things, Defendant May Tong stated that the Da." defendants had transferred assets to "Lao Defendant Tong alleged that even if Jian Cheng Liu were to prevail in the Federal litigation, he would not be able to Defendants' recover darnages because assets no longer existunder the name, Da" 38. "Lao is the nickname of Defendant Fen Zhen Chen, a General Manager of the corporate defendants. 6 6 of 14 FILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 03/13/2020 10/15/2020 06:02 10:03 PM INDEX NO. 713860/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 115 187 RECEIVEDINDEX NYSCEF: NO. 03/13/2020 713 10/15/2020 8 6 O/ 2 018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/26/2019 PLAINTIFFS' FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS 39, Plaintiff Gang Li ("Li") was employed by Wing Keung from May 2011 to January 15, 2013. 40. He worked 6 days a week.