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BJ’s Restaurants Wage Theft Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: A former tipped wage worker at a Texas BJ’s Brewhouse is suing BJ’s Restaurants.
- Why: The worker alleges he and others were paid the tipped wage of $2.13 per hour while performing untipped work and buying their own uniforms.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in a Texas federal court.
A former employee of an international restaurant chain says the company paid him and other servers and bartenders just $2.13 per hour while asking them to do untipped work and buy their own uniforms, a new class action alleges.
Plaintiff Daniel Flores filed the class action complaint against BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. and BJ’s Restaurant Operations Company Dec. 30 in a Texas federal court, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The defendants operate a nationwide chain of restaurants under the trade name BJ’s Brewhouse throughout the U.S., in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and other states.
Flores alleges that BJ’s paid its tipped employees, including servers and bartenders, below the minimum wage rate by taking advantage of the tip-credit provision of the FLSA.
Flores says he worked for the BJ’s Brewhouse in Cedar Park, Texas, from Dec. 2019 to Feb. 2021 as a tipped wage worker. Tipped wage workers can legally be paid as little as $2.13 base rate per hour as long as the employer follows tip-credit laws.
“Under the tip-credit provision, an employer of tipped employees may, under certain circumstances, pay its employees less than the minimum wage rate by taking a ‘tip credit’ against the minimum wage requirement based upon the amount of tips the employees received from customers,” the lawsuit reads.
BJ’s Did Not Meet Requirements To Utilize “Tip Credit,” Class Action Alleges
However, there are strict requirements for an employer to utilize the “tip credit,” which BJ’s did not meet, the class action says.
Firstly, the plaintiff and other tipped workers were not properly informed of how the tip credit was going to affect their wages. Flores also alleges that he was required to purchase certain clothing to work for BJ’s, which reduced his wages below the minimum hourly wage required for tipped employees.
Meanwhile, despite being paid a tipped wage, Flores says he was required to perform “excessive amounts” of non-tipped work, including sweeping, mopping and cleaning the bathrooms. He says more than 20 percent of the work he did was non-tipped.
“As a result of these violations, Defendants have lost the ability to use the tip credit and therefore must compensate Plaintiff and all similarly situated workers at the full minimum wage rate, unencumbered by the tip credit, and for all hours worked,” the lawsuit says.
Flores is looking to represent all current and former tipped employees who worked for the defendants for at least one week during the past three years.
He’s seeking damages, back pay, certification of the class action, interest, fees, costs and a jury trial.
What do you think about the tip credit law? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by Don F. Hoty of Hodges & Foty, LLP.
The BJ’s Restaurants Wage Theft Class Action Lawsuit is Daniel Flores v. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. et al., Case No. 1:21-cv-01185, in the U.S. District Court Western District of Texas Austin Division.
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