A group of employees at a pizzeria with East Arlington, Brighton and Quincy locations are suing their former employers for wage theft.

The employees are suing Sabatino's Italian Kitchen and its owners, Rima Eljoundi and Zaher Hammoud, for violating federal wage law by not sufficiently compensating them for overtime work, and for providing them with paychecks that bounced.

The case was first filed in Massachusetts Superior Court and then removed on a motion from the defendant and sent to U.S. District Court, where it is currently proceeding.

The 10 plaintiffs, all who worked in various positions for Sabatino's at their Arlington and Brighton locations, allege in court documents they are owed $26,000 in lost wages and compensation, not including attorney's fees.

The formal allegations from the employees are that Sabatino's and its owners violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying overtime wages and retaliated against employees who claimed they were not being compensated properly by firing them.

Other allegations by the employees assert Sabatino's and its owners violated Massachusetts law by failing to pay the employees for paychecks that contained insufficient funds, and for not tracking the employees’ work time.

“These are hardworking employees who want what they are owed under the law,” attorney Emily Boney of Davis and Davis, representing the employees, told the Advocate in a phone interview.

According to court documents, employees say on many occasions they worked overtime, but were not compensated. For instance, one assertion by the plaintiff is that Erick Alvarez, a pizza maker in the Arlington restaurant, worked between 62 and 66 hours per week, but never got overtime pay.

The employees in court records also claim they never received payment for several paychecks, which bounced when they tried to cash them. One employee, Juan Palencia, a pizza maker in the Brighton restaurant, claims he is owed $3,290 due to five checks that bounced, and he was never sufficiently compensated.

All the employees in this lawsuit were terminated due to their request for payment for the overtime work and checks they were never compensated for, the employees allege in court documents.

In court documents, Sabatino's and its owners deny all allegations that employees were not paid for overtime work, and that they were terminated due to their complaints.

However, they do admit in court documents that certain employees were not paid for all hours worked during a period of time in 2016, although they deny how much each employee claims they are owed, and deny each employee worked as many hours as they claim.

“We’ll let the record as it develops in court speak for itself,” the defendants' attorney Andrea Kramer of Kramer Frohlich LLC told the Advocate in a phone interview.

The employees allege the situation took a nasty turn when they brought the matter to the attention of William Roberts Jr., general manager of all three Sabatinos locations.

According to court documents, when one employee, Jose Benitez, a cook and manager in the Arlington restaurant for 15 years, complained about checks bouncing, he claims Roberts said, “If you come to the restaurant, I’ll punch you in the face.”

Benitez also claims Roberts threatened to have some of the employees deported and stated that because some employees were “illegal,” he didn’t have to pay them.

Employees also claimed in court documents – and provided pictures of text message threads in court exhibits - that Roberts made threats and called employees inappropriate and racist names when they inquired about their pay.

In response through court records, the defendants state they are without information or knowledge sufficient to make a determination on whether Roberts threatened to deport the employees. They also deny the texts were sent in retaliation, according to court documents.

Attorney Kramer said Roberts and a relative of his, Arthur Roberts, who Kramer said was responsible for payroll for Sabatino's, are no longer with the company.

Court documents indicate that both parties will be proceeding with discovery in the coming months and are slated to meet for a status conference on Sept. 20.

Sabatino's East Arlington location has been closed for months after an oil spill and a pipe burst created structural damage in its Arlington location. According to Natasha Waden, Arlington's health compliance officer, repair work has been largely completed but the business would still need to go through a standard review process to reopen.

This article has been updated to reflect that Arthur Roberts was a relative of William Roberts Jr.