The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan says employees at the salons, which have the same owners and are all on Manhattan's Upper East Side, are paid $60 or less for 10-hour shifts and often denied breaks.
The lawsuit said the salons – Nailsway, Naulo Nails, Nailsmetic and Nailscure - violated New York's minimum wage law and a federal law requiring time-and-a-half pay for overtime as well as meal and rest breaks.
One of the owners of the salons, Surya Gurang, did not respond to a request for comment.
The New York Times over the last week has published a series of articles that say nail salon owners routinely exploit employees, particularly immigrants, paying them as little as $30 a day and failing to provide equipment or ventilation to safely deal with toxic chemicals.
