New $4M Restaurant Wage and Hour Settlement Reached

A class action lawsuit involving thousands of restaurant workers has been brought to an end with a $4 million restaurant wage and hour settlement.

The employee rights lawsuit was filed on behalf of a large class action group of thousands of restaurant servers who worked for a few national restaurant chains encompassed in the Bravo Brio Restaurant Group, based in Ohio.

According to the wage and hour lawsuit, the restaurant group included Bravo Cucina Italiana, Bravo Tuscan Grille, and Bon Vie Bistro, which are located in 32 states across the U.S., who failed to pay proper minimum wage and overtime compensation.

The Class Members allege that they were not paid proper minimum wage. While earning a lower wage, they were employed in tippable positions. But they claim that by company policy, they were required to spend more than 20 percent of their work time doing work away from customers, and therefore not in tippable locations.

The lawsuit was filed back in May 2016 and covers 8,671 Bravo Brio Restaurant Group servers — both current and former — within three years of the date of filing. The lead plaintiff will receive $17,500 from the restaurant wage and hour settlement for her part in the lawsuit.

The restaurant wage and hour settlement proposal was submitted back in July. The class asked that the $4 million restaurant wage and hour settlement be approved by a Missouri federal court, given that there had been no objections from the defendants since it was submitted over the summer.

Wage and Hour Regulations

There are a series of both federal and state wage and hour laws put in place to protect workers and ensure they are treated fairly. However, many workers across the country do not know about the protections that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) offers, which can lead to employers taking advantage of them. In some cases, employers may be requiring unpaid overtime work or even failing to pay minimum wage at all.

Some workers may find themselves unable to file wage and hour complaints like this unpaid overtime lawsuit because they are not aware of FLSA rules. Others may be afraid that their employers will retaliate or even fire them if they speak up about these kinds of FLSA violations. To protect workers who help to enforce FLSA rules, laws also exist to protect workers from discrimination based on wage and hour complaints.

Pursuing a Wage and Hour Lawsuit

If you have worked for an employer like Bravio Brio Restaurant Group that may have failed to follow the Fair Labor Standards Act or state labor laws, such as minimum wage or overtime requirements, you may be able to either join a wage and hour class action lawsuit or file an unpaid overtime lawsuit of your own. A wage and hour settlement can help make up for unpaid wages or overtime work, whether you are a current or former employee.

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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