Manhattan Events Co. Facing Wage Lawsuit Over Unpaid Tips

Bartenders sue events company Metronome for unpaid tips.

The Manhattan events company Metronome has been hit with a wage and hour class action lawsuit by a former employee who alleges that he and other Metronome employees were not paid the tips given to them during their shifts.

Metronome has organized events for clients such as Donald Trump, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.

The wage and hour lawsuit was filed by former Metronome bartender Robert Atkins on Jan. 22 in Manhattan Supreme Court. Atkins says he is owed $375,000 from the events company. The New York resident worked for Metronome from 2010 through 2013.

According to the wage and hour lawsuit, Metronome charged a 20 percent gratuity to the bill of the banquets it would run at four Manhattan venues. However, Atkins claims that he was never paid any of the gratuity money that the events company charged, and that money was kept by Metronome.

Atkins says that he was paid a flat fee of $150 per event and that he worked at about 140 events that Metronome hosted including a birthday party for Depp, a Miss Universe event commissioned by Trump, and a New York Film Critics Circle Awards event with Jolie, Brad Pitt and Meryl Streep.

Atkins claims that Metronome clients were deceived into thinking that the bartenders and servers at these events were being tipped.

Metronome has not yet responded to the wage and hour lawsuit.

A similar wage and hour lawsuit was filed against another New York banquet company, The Mallozzi Group, by a banquet server who claimed that he and the other servers were owed more than $1 million in tips because of a similar gratuity charge added to the bills of the company’s clients.

In that case, Bobby Mallozzi, co-owner of The Mallozi Group, along with his brother, John, responded by saying that the company had included what it called a “20 percent service personnel charge” to the bills of those who rented its banquet halls and used its services. However, Mallozzi argued that neither the word “tip” or “gratuity” was used. He also explained that its customers were never told that the charge was included to pay the servers.

“We’ve done nothing wrong,” Mallozzi said. “We’ve been doing this for years. We did everything exactly the way we should have.”

He added that servers’ wages start at $12 per hour and go all the way up to $19 per hour, and the Mallozzi group makes it clear to their servers that their pay is based on a flat hourly rate, not tips.

However, Ryan Picard, the gentleman who filed the wage and hour lawsuit against Mallozzi, says that he and the other servers were told by Mallozzi that if a customer asked them if they received tips that they were “to respond, as instructed by defendants, that they did receive tips.”

If you or someone you know did not receive all the money they earned, legal options are available to you. Learn more and get a free consultation regarding a claims eligibility at the Wage & Hour Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. Experienced legal professionals are able to determine if you have a case. You could receive back pay as well as penalties. Don’t delay — the statute of limitations under the FLSA is two to three years, depending on the state, so act now.