California Amber India Restaurant Wage Class Action Settlement

Current and former employees of Amber India restaurants in the Bay Area are set to get payments from a class action settlement worth up to $570,000.

This settlement resolves allegations of unpaid wages and missed breaks for restaurant staff who worked for Amber India from Feb. 27, 2011 through June 18, 2015.

Plaintiffs Ian D’Sa, Maria Diaz, Jorge Valdivia, and Francisco Romero all worked for defendant Amber India restaurants as servers and bussers. They allege Amber India never allowed them to take meal or rest breaks, as required by California employment law.

Valdivia claimed that when he complained to his manager about not getting breaks, the manager told him that breaks were not allowed because the restaurant was simply too busy.

The plaintiffs further alleged that Amber India deleted their overtime hours out of its payroll system to avoid paying them overtime wages. They claim employees whose employment ended were not paid all their outstanding compensation as required by California law governing wait time for final paychecks.

Because of the alleged overtime, wait time pay, and meal and rest break violations, the plaintiffs claim, Amber India also failed to provide the plaintiffs with accurate wage statements.

Amber India continues to deny the plaintiffs’ claims. The company says it agreed to the settlement solely to avoid the expense and disruption that litigation causes. The settlement does not require Amber India to admit any liability.

The settlement requires Amber India to pay into a settlement fund worth a maximum of $570,000. This fund will be distributed among Class Members after first being used to cover class counsel’s attorneys’ fees and costs, awards for the class representatives, the costs of settlement administration, and a payment to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency.

Payments will be mailed to Class Members automatically. About 590 persons will qualify to receive payments, according to the settlement agreement.

Class Members do not need to submit a claim to receive payment, though they may want to update their contact information if it has changed. A change of address form is included with each Class Member’s settlement notice.

Objections or requests to be excluded from the settlement must be received by Jan. 7, 2018.

Who’s Eligible

The settlement Class covers all current and former hourly, non-exempt employees of Amber India who worked during the period from Feb. 27, 2011 through June 18, 2015 at any of the Amber India family of restaurants.

This definition covers those who worked at Amber India restaurants in San Francisco, Mountain View, Los Gatos, and San Jose, the Amber Dhara restaurants in Palo Alto and San Francisco, the Amber Café, and the Amber Club.

Potential Award

Varies.

Of the total settlement funds distributed to Class Members, 90 percent will be distributed to all of them according to the number of weeks each Class Member did qualifying work during the class period.

The remaining 10 percent will be used as waiting time penalties for unpaid wages owed at termination. These funds will be distributed among Class Members whose employment with Amber India ended between Feb. 27, 2012 and Oct. 25, 2017.

Proof of Purchase

No proof of purchase or other documentation is necessary. Class Members have the option of submitting documentation to correct any errors in the payroll information used to calculate their payment. This documentation must be submitted by Jan. 7, 2018.

Exclusion Deadline

1/7/2018

Case Name

D’Sa, et al. v. Amber India Corp., et al., Case No. CGC-15-544578, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Francisco

Final Hearing

2/16/2018

Settlement Website

www.hoyerlaw.com/Amber-India-settlement-information.php

Claims Administrator

D’sa v Amber India Settlement Administrator
c/o Rust Consulting, Inc. – 5776
P.O. Box 2396
Faribault, MN 55021-9096
Class Counsel: 415-766-3539

Class Counsel

Richard A. Hoyer
Ryan L. Hicks
HOYER & HICKS

Defense Counsel

Jeffrey V. Ta
Colin W. Larson
BLEDSOE DIESTEL TREPPA & CRANE LLP

Join a Free California Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

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