The Department of Labor settled a federal court lawsuit against Rhode Island restaurants Stoneacre Brasserie, Stoneacre Tapas, as well as co-owners Christopher Bender and David Crowell for improperly including managers and owners in tip pools and failing to pay the front-of-house employees who participated in the tip pools the federal minimum wage. The restaurants failed to pay employees at one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for all hours over 40 in a workweek and did not maintain required records of the hours that employees worked. The $554,000 wage theft settlement followed an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.
According to the 25-page wage theft lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island, the owners of Stoneacre Hospitality, Christopher Bender and David Crowell, included themselves in the “tip pool,” which under federal law must be limited to hourly-paid front-of-the-house employees, such as bartenders, waitstaff, and bus persons. They were also accused of failing to pay overtime, failing to pay the required minimum wage, failing to maintain accurate employment records, and misclassifying back-of-the-house employees, such as line cooks and sous chefs, as exempt from overtime pay.
While many restaurants allow servers to retain all tips they receive directly from customers, other establishments work under a pool system, where tips are combined and then divided among front-of-the-house staff. Federal law prevents owners and managers, who often receive a salary and benefits, from being included in the pool. Including owners and managers in the tip pool is one of the most common restaurant pay violations in New York.
If you have questions about your rights as a restaurant worker, please contact the attorneys of Pechman Law Group at 212-583-9500.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form
