Four cooks employed by a major third-party restaurant operator at Disney’s EPCOT theme park have accused their employer, the Patina Group, of underpaying them.

They’ve threatened to file a lawsuit over the issue, with the assistance of a labor attorney running for Florida Attorney General, if the Patina Group doesn’t pay them what they say they’re owed by July 2.

“We’re taking action today because it isn’t right to work without pay,” said Jennifer Quinones-Estrada, a prep cook at EPCOT’s Tutto Italia, speaking at a press conference last Wednesday.

She’s one of four cooks at Tutto Italia, a restaurant operated by the Patina Group, who allege they were forced to perform off-the-clock, pre-shift prep work for years without being paid.

She, personally, works five eight-hour shifts a week, but said that, since October 2020, she’s been expected to show up to shifts a half-hour early to prep, without receiving compensation.

“I should have been getting paid for every hour I did for the last five and a half years. I should have been getting paid overtime when that extra work put me over 40 hours a week,” Quinones-Estrada stated.

“Patina,” she added pointedly, “you broke the law. Make it right.”

Quinones-Estrada was joined Wednesday by members of her union, Unite Here Local 737, in addition to State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, and U.S. Congressman Maxwell Frost, D-FL.

“No matter what your political viewpoint is, we can all agree that when you do the work, you should get paid,...

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