Mystique is a women’s clothing retailer that includes seven stores in Manhattan: Mystique Boutiqe, Amsterdam Boutique, Exstaza, and Madness. Six of the seven stores are located in SoHo. The chain is owned by brothers David and Isaac Cohen.

Workers are fighting to recover $1.5 million in unpaid minimum wage and overtime. Over 150 current and former employees claim they have been subject to many labor violations in at least the past six years.

Many workers have reported putting in 66-hour weeks without receiving overtime pay, and working for as little as $5.15 per hour, $2.10 below the legal minimum wage. Workers also reported that the owners of Mystique fired many of them once they learned that the workers were attempting to win back their stolen wages.

RAP is working with current and former Mystique employees to utilize legal, organizing, and media tools to win back the money they are owed. Workers from the Mystique chain first learned about RAP in July 2009 when RAP rallied outside another SoHo retailer, Scoop NYC, where former warehouse employees are suing the company for not paying the legal overtime. Workers from the Mystique chain heard about the rally and took an immediate interest. While most of the workers at the Mystique stores knew that something fishy was going on, most were not aware that there were ways that they could assert their rights. Through RAP, they were able to learn their rights and learn how to assert them.

On Feb. 23, 2010, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced the arrest of Mystique co-owner David Cohen for allegedly failing to pay minimum wage and overtime as well as falsifying documents and intimidating and bribing witnesses. Click here to read more.