Carrabba’s Italian Grill Violates Tip-Credit Laws, Fails to Pay Workers Earned Minimum Wages, New Class Action Claims

Carrabba’s Tip-Credit Violations Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Chauncey Ford filed a class action lawsuit against Carrabba’s.
• Why: The plaintiff alleges Carrabba’s pays their tipped employees, including servers and bartenders, below the minimum wage rate by taking advantage of tip-credit provisions.
• Where: The lawsuit is pending in Maryland federal court.

A new class action lawsuit accuses Carrabba’s Italian Grill, LLC, of violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (“FLSA”) tip credit and subsequent underpayment of their employees at the federally mandated minimum wage rate, as well as violations of the Maryland Wage and Hour Law (MWHL) for the defendants’ failure to pay the plaintiff and all similarly situated workers their earned minimum wages. 

Under the tip-credit provisions, an employer of tipped employees may, under certain circumstances, pay those employees less than the minimum wage rate by taking a “tip credit” against the employer’s minimum wage obligations from the tips received from customers, the lawsuit states. However, an employer must advise an employee in advance of its use of the tip credit, according to the FLSA and MWHL, and did not do so, the plaintiffs claim. 

Carrabba’s also violated the FLSA and MWHL by making illegal deductions that reduced the direct wage of the plaintiff below the minimum required hourly wage for tipped employees, having the employees perform work unrelated to tipped occupation and having the employees perform non-tipped side work in excess of 20% of the time spent working in the week, the class action lawsuit states.

“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 states.

The plaintiff, on behalf of himself and Class Members, seeks minimum wage compensation unadulterated by the tip credit; liquidated damages; all misappropriated funds including all tips, expenses and wages wrongfully withheld; an order requiring the defendants to correct their pay practices going forward; reasonable attorney’s fees, costs and expenses of this action; and pre- and post-judgment interest.

Are you a Carrabba’s employee who has not been paid your full earned wages? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Kelly E. Cook of Wyly & Cook, PLLC; Don J. Foty of Hodges & Foty, LLP; and Anthony J. Lazzaro, Alanna Klein Fischer and Lori M. Griffin of The Lazzaro Law Firm, LLC.

The Carrabba’s Tip-Credit Violations Class Action Lawsuit is Ford v. Carrabba’s Italian Grill, LLC, Case No. 8:21-cv-02964-GLS, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland Southern Division.

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