Tamara Burns  |  August 31, 2017

Category: Labor & Employment

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federal labor laws for food and beverage jobsA lawsuit has been filed against Red Lobster by a former restaurant manager saying that the popular restaurant chain neglected to pay him and other managers overtime pay. The proposed collective action was filed in an Illinois federal courts.

Plaintiff Marcus Jordan stated that he was denied restaurant manager overtime pay even though he regularly worked more than 50 hours a week at a Joliet, Il. restaurant from August 2014 to April 2016.

Jordan says not only does Red Lobster deny restaurant manager overtime pay. The restaurant allegedly does not pay other kinds of managers for overtime either, such as bar managers, kitchen managers, front-of-house managers or assistant managers work for the company.

The plaintiff believes Red Lobster’s failure to provide restaurant manager overtime pay and overtime pay to other managers is a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Under the act, Jordan states that businesses can only qualify employees as exempt from overtime pay if they have high-level responsibilities as part of their work, such as disciplining, hiring and firing employees.

“[Restaurant managers] spend the majority of their shifts performing tasks such as greeting and waiting on customers, expediting and serving food, cooking and preparing food, clearing and setting tables, washing dishes, counting inventory, cleaning the restaurant, and performing general customer service,” the restaurant manager overtime pay lawsuit states. “Plaintiff and the members of the FSLA collective were not paid overtime premium compensation when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek.”

The duties undertaken by restaurant managers and other managers were not that different from those of non-managers, Jordan stated. He also said that Red Lobster did not keep records of the hours that managers worked, as they were not required to clock in or out of their work shifts.

“Red Lobster applies the same employment policies, practices, and procedures to [restaurant managers] at all Red Lobster restaurants,” the lawsuit states. He goes on to state that the restaurant’s “unlawful conduct has been widespread, repeated, and consistent.”

The restaurant manager overtime pay lawsuit against Red Lobster is structured as a collective action and not a class action. In a collective action lawsuit, participants are required to affirmatively opted in to be counted as plaintiffs. In contrast, a class action requires those who do not wish to participate to opt out of the action.

The Red Lobster Restaurant Manager Overtime Pay Lawsuit is Marcus Jordan v. Red Lobster Restaurants LLC, Case No. 1:17-cv-05550, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Do You Qualify for Your Own Restaurant Manager Overtime Pay Lawsuit?

If you are a restaurant manager who spends a lot of time at work doing non-managerial tasks, you may be misclassified as exempt from overtime pay. An attorney familiar with employee misclassification lawsuits and other wage and hour issues can provide you with a free case review and consultation to discuss your eligibility to move forward with legal action.

Plaintiffs who successfully file wage and hour lawsuits against current or former employers may be eligible to recover lost wages due to unpaid overtime pay and more.

Join a Free Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were forced to work off the clock or without overtime pay within the past 3 years, you have rights – and you don’t have to take on the company alone.

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