Restaurant With World’s Priciest Burger Faces Wage and Hour Class Action

A restaurant known for its extravagant menu items faces a proposed wage and hour class action lawsuit filed by a former server who alleges that the restaurant failed to pay proper wages and required employees to work off the clock.

Serendipity 3 is a famous Manhattan restaurant known for holding the Guinness World Record for a cheeseburger costing $295 and an ice cream sundae selling for a whopping $25,000. It has also been featured in a number of films including “One Fine Day,” “Serendipity” and “Trust the Man.”

Plaintiff Irwing Velandia claims that restaurant owner Steven Bruce failed to properly notify employees that he would apply a tip credit to their wages, forced employees to share tips with their nontipped counterparts, and failed to pay both regular and overtime wages in accordance with federal and New York City laws.

Velandia says that Serendipity 3 paid servers, bussers and other employees who regularly receive gratuities at a “tipped” minimum wage, but acted in violation of wage and hour requirements for applying a tip credit, which gives employers the opportunity to pay employees at a rate below minimum wage if the wage is offset by earned tips.

Velandia also alleges that Serendipity 3 promoted an illegal tip pool in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law when the restaurant forced tipped employees to give nontipped employees working as ice cream scoopers between $10 and $20 per shift.

The Serendity 3 wage and hour lawsuit further alleges that employees who earned tips were forced to work off-the-clock both before and after shifts, and were required to perform paperwork at an unpaid rate at the end of each shift.

According to Velandia, tipped employees were required to spend more than 20 percent of their shift performing non-tipped tasks such as preparing tables and restocking condiments, and such activities took them away from activities that could have earned them tips, according to the complaint.

Velandia further claims that Serendepity 3 refused to pay time-and-a-half wages to employees who worked overtime clocking more than 40 hours a week. In addition to the allegation of improperly paid overtime wages, Velandia says employees were also required to pay for the cleaning of their mandatory uniforms, and docked wages for tipped employees in the event of customers walking out or the cash register being short.

The proposed collective wage and hour class action lawsuit seeks to notify more than 20 current and former tipped employees who worked at Serendipity 3 for 3 years before Velandia filed the lawsuit.

On behalf of himself and the other employees, Velandia is seeking award of unpaid wages, damages, notice penalties and litigation cost. The complaint did not suggest an estimated payout but indicated that penalties for failing to properly identify employees of their wages under New York Labor Law would amount to $2500 per employee, plus additional fees and costs.

Filing a Wage and Hour Lawsuit

If you believe your employer has violated the labor laws in your state, you may have a legal claim. An experienced attorney can review your case for free and can guide you in understanding your legal options.

The Serendipity 3 Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit is Irwing Velandia et al. vs. Serendipity 3, INC. et al., Case No. 1:16-cv-01799, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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