Connecticut Restaurant Sued in Class Action Lawsuit for Wage Theft

Servers and bartenders have united in a class action lawsuit against Shea’s American Bar and Grill for minimum wage violations and improper deductions under the Fair Labor Standard Act (“FLSA”) and the Connecticut Minimum Wage Act (“CMWA”). According to the worker’s lawsuit, servers and bartenders were required to perform non-tipped work at the beginning or end of their shifts, and even during their shifts. The lawsuit alleges the Restaurant did not keep a record of what time was spent performing non-tipped work in violation of the CMWA. In addition, the lawsuit claims that Managers would clock out workers from the time keeping system, even though they were still working. It is alleged that the restaurant shaved workers’ hours worked by changing clock-in and/or clock-out times in the timekeeping system. Therefore, the servers and bartenders worked off the clock without pay and were not given overtime compensation for hours they worked past forty in a week. The lawsuit further alleges that the restaurant took improper deductions from employee paychecks. The restaurant deducted a cost between $15-$20 for uniforms workers were required to wear which carried the restaurant logo. Penalties of at least $20 were also deducted from paychecks if the managers were not “satisfied” with a cleaning job by an employee. The restaurant even deducted customer bills from a server’s or bartender’s pay for those customers that “walked out”. Workers’ rights were violated as these deductions brought the workers’ wages below the minimum wage under the FLSA. This lawsuit seeks unpaid wages, liquidated damages, interest, and attorneys’ fees.