Another federal tip-and-wage lawsuit is filed against popular Lexington restaurants
Former employees have filed another class-action lawsuit alleging tip-and-wage theft against some of Lexington’s most-prominent restaurants.
The latest allegation is against Bluegrass Hospitality Group, on behalf of former workers at Malone’s, Harry’s, and Drake’s in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina.
Bluegrass Hospitality Group (BHG) owns prominent Lexington restaurants including Malone’s, Malone’s Prime Events & Receptions, Harry’s, Aqua Sushi, Drake’s and OBC Kitchen.
The suit was filed in May in the Eastern District of Kentucky federal court.
In the latest lawsuit, three plaintiffs were former workers at Malone’s locations in Hamburg and Palomar centers. Another worked at the Drake’s location in Owensboro.
The lawsuit claims the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and Kentucky Wages and Hours Act by not providing servers and bartenders with the legally required notice regarding the use of a tip credit toward their wages.
The complaint explains the restaurants owned by BHG compensated its employees below the federal minimum wage while requiring them to perform non-tipped duties for more than 20% of their work week.
Some of these duties include sweeping, mopping, rolling silverware and other side work where employees are not being tipped. Federal law prohibits employers from taking a tip credit when an employee performs tip-supporting work and non-tip generating duties for more than 20% of their work week.
According to the suit, bartenders and servers are required to work for nearly an hour to set up and close the restaurants, clean and prepare tables and organize their sections.
The employees were also required to contribute their tips to other workers, involuntarily, the lawsuit claims.
This class action lawsuit is the newest to be filed against the BHG, after another former Drake’s employee out of Tennessee filed a separate, federal suit in April.
A spokesman for BHG could not be immediately reach for comment.
Lawsuit is latest against Lexington restaurants
David Garrison, the attorney for the former employees, has had experience — and success — for these cases in Kentucky federal court.
Garrison was the lead attorney for a previous lawsuit against Tony’s Steak and Seafood.As a result, Tony’s Steak and Seafood restaurant agreed to pay $1.5 million as part of a settlement involving employees in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio locations.
The employees alleged the restaurant violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by forcing them and other tipped employees to participate in a tip pool that gave portions of tips to salaried members of management, according to federal court documents and settlement information.
Three class-action lawsuits were filed against Tony’s in the three states, which were later consolidated into a single federal lawsuit. John Hartley, a former bartender at Tony’s, was the original person to file suit against Tony’s.
The Tony’s settlement resolved claims for 79 servers in Kentucky, 42 servers in Ohio and 52 servers in Indiana, according to Garrison, lead attorney in the two cases. In total, the award for plaintiffs in Kentucky was $546,237 — more than Indiana and Ohio’s settlement amounts combined. The average recovery for a class member who participates in the server settlement is $5,250. The largest settlement recovery is more than $35,000, according to court documents.
Following the settlement of the Tony’s lawsuit, a lawsuit was announced against Jeff Ruby’s in February for alleged wage and tip theft. The lawsuit said the defendants took a portion of the tips earned by servers and bartenders and shared the money with back-of-house employees “who did not earn the tips and who did not interact with customers.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2024 at 4:55 AM.
