Lawsuit Charges 17 Houlihan's restaurants in New Jersey and New York With Wage Theft

Houlihan’s engaged in "pervasive skimming from employees' tips and wages," according to a federal court lawsuit charging the restaurants with violations of the minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The wage theft lawsuit against Houlihan’s could recover millions in back wages, tips and liquidated damages on behalf of approximately 1,430 current and former Houlihan's employees. The defendants include A.C.E. Restaurant Group Inc., A.C.E. Restaurant Group of New York LLC and Arnold Runestad. An investigation by the Department of Labor found that the defendants engaged in a number of practices that violated the FLSA. These include the following:

• Requiring servers and bartenders to contribute a percentage of tips to a tip pool, but using the tips to pay employees for tasks, such as custodial and kitchen work. The lawsuit claims that Houlihan's regularly retained a portion of employee tips.
• Denying overtime pay to employees who worked at more than one restaurant, even when their combined hours totaled more than 40 hours in one workweek.
• Having employees work off-the-clock, earning tips for their labor.
• Routinely deducting money from employees' paychecks for meals consumed during breaks, while also requiring payment, at times, for the meals. The deductions were greater than the defendants' cost for providing the meals, and often resulted in some employees receiving less than minimum wage.

According to the Department of Labor, the severity of these violations and the number of affected workers is such that restitution, could amount to millions of dollars. Restaurant workers are among those in our economy who are most vulnerable to wage violations, and we are committed to pursuing remedies vigorously on their behalf whenever necessary. Houlihan’s practices deprived many of their employees of money rightfully earned — money that they need to afford basics. Reducing labor costs by shorting workers also places law-abiding restaurants at a competitive disadvantage, and violates the principle of a fair and level playing field laid out in the FLSA. The New Jersey restaurants are located in Bayonne, Brick, Bridgewater, Cherry Hill, Eatontown, Fairfield, Hasbrouck Heights, Holmdel, Lawrenceville, Metuchen, New Brunswick, Paramus, Ramsey, Secaucus and Weehawken. The New York locations are in Farmingdale and Westbury. The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates of pay, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week. The FLSA requires an employer of a tipped employee to pay no less than $2.13 an hour in direct wages ($5.00 in New York), provided that amount plus the tips received equals at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour ($8.75 in New York). If an employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages do not equal at least the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. Tips are the property of the employee, and the employer is prohibited from using an employee's tips for any reason other than as a credit against its minimum wage obligation to the employee (tip credit) or in furtherance of a valid tip pool among employees who customarily and regularly receive tips. A valid tip pool may not include employees who do not customarily and regularly receive tips (for example, dishwashers, cooks, chefs and janitors), and an employee cannot be required to turn over his tips to the employer. Employers also are required to maintain accurate time and payroll records.   [wpdevart_facebook_comment curent_url="http://waiterpay.com/2015/10/lawsuit-charges-17-houlihans-restaurants-in-new-jersey-and-new-york-with-wage-theft/" title_text="Community Comments" title_text_color="#000000" title_text_font_size="22" title_text_font_famely="monospace" title_text_position="left" width="100%" bg_color="#CCCCCC" animation_effect="random" count_of_comments="2" ]