Phil-Am Food / FilStop Grocery

UPDATE: In February 2020, Golden Fortune Import and Export filed a lawsuit against Filstop owner Erwin Santos and his wholesale business LS Filipino Merchandising.

Complaint for HUD-L-000750-20 submitted by SKIFF, GREGORY JOHN, SKIFF LAW FIRM LLC on behalf of GOLDEN FORTUNE IMPORT & EXPORT against LS FILIPINO MERCHANDISING, INC, ERWIN SANTOS

EARLIER: On May 22, a lawsuit was filed against PhilAm Food owner Erwin Santos at the Essex County Courthouse in Newark, New Jersey.

Still ongoing as of October. Docket Number: 003551 15

This is another case completely separate from the 2013 federal lawsuit brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act. See details below.

This is also completely separate from the 2015 lawsuit filed by the wholesaler Phil-Am Trading against this grocery store. See details here.

 
In February 2016, a PhilamFood customer named Irene Nicholson felt she had had enough and decided to publicly voice out her grievance about receiving expired food from this online grocery store.

She stated she had already once before received food she had ordered past the expiration date, but had decided to stay quiet that first time. Unfortunately, on another order, she again received expired products — after that second time, she decided to go public.

Owned by Ramar Foods flunky Erwin Santos, this Filipino grocery store PhilAm Food was previously notorious for an alleged case of rat infestation that was posted about in a Yelp review a few years back. “Not mice, but rats.”

If you want to order Filipino food, groceries, and books online, be sure to check out Amazon, which now sells everything from authentic Philippine brooms to Marca Piña soy sauce. You can also find Pinoy products on eBay, and Walmart.

LAGASPI v. PHIL-AM MERCHANDISING et al

Defendants: FLORENTINA SANTOS, OLIVER SANTOS, PHIL-AM MERCHANDISING
Plaintiff: JAMIE DELEON LAGASPI
Case Number: 2:2013cv01168
Filed: February 26, 2013
Court: New Jersey District Court
Office: Newark Office
County: Hudson
Referring Judge: Mark Falk
Presiding Judge: William J. Martini
Nature of Suit: Labor: Fair Standards
Cause of Action: 29:201 Fair Labor Standards Act

Jaime was employed as kitchen staff at PhilAm. According to the lawsuit filed, he worked in excess of 40 hours a week, yet PhilAm willfully failed to pay him overtime compensation of one-half times the regular hourly rate, such failure being a violation of both the FLSA and the NJWPL.

According to Jaime, it was PhilAm’s standard policy and procedure not to pay overtime compensation to workers like him.

Legaspi estimated that over the years, there were hundreds similarly employed by PhilAm who did not receive the overtime pay mandated under the law.

“…there are approximately 300… most of whom would not be likely to file individual suits because they lack adequate financial resources, access to attorneys or knowledge of their claims.”

PhilAm “failed to make, keep, and preserve records with respect to each of its employees sufficient to determine the wages, hours, and other conditions and practices of employment in violation of the FLSA.”

Read the 14-page complaint here (PDF).

PhilamFood Lawsuit Summons for Florentina Santos (PDF)

FLSA = Fair Labor Standards Act
NJWPL = New Jersey Wage Payment Law

 
LS FILIPINO MERCHANDISING INC
4201 Tonnelle Ave, North Bergen, NJ
Registered on August 21, 2015
State ID: 0450012311
Business type: Domestic Profit

FILSTOP INC / FILSTOP GROCERY
683 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ
Online Retail Grocery Sore
Domestic Profit Corporation

http://filamfood.org/lawsuit-phil-am-trading-vs-phil-am-food-merchandising/

PHIL-AM R.E. CORP INC
PHIL-AM REAL ESTATE CORPORATION, INC.
Company Name: PHIL-AM REAL ESTATE CORPORATION, INC.
File Number: 0100414476
Filing State: New Jersey (NJ)
Filing Date: April 28, 1989
Principal Address: Jersey City, NJ 07303