LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Bagatelle Wait Staff Win $1.1M FLSA Class Action Lawsuit
This is a settlement for the Employment lawsuit.
Santa Clara, CA: A $1.1 million settlement has been reached in a New York labor law class action lawsuit brought by wait staff at popular French restaurant Bagatelle in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District.
The suit was brought by former servers Jallal Daghoughi and Maxime Lucas, who alleged that while they worked at Bagatelle their tips were misappropriated because the defendants, JEC II LLC and Bagatelle Little West 12th LLC, required that they share their tips with captains and other non-service employees, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
According to court documents, “The named plaintiffs maintain that Bagatelle required them to share the tips of food service employees with ‘back of the house’ employees such as glasses polishers and food expeditors. The named plaintiffs also contend that defendants were ineligible to apply the FLSA and NYLL tip credit to food service employees’ hourly wages because defendants failed to meet the statutory notice prerequisites, which must be followed in order to pay employees pursuant to a tip credit.”
The lawsuit, filed in May, 2016, goes on to assert that Bagatelle paid the plaintiffs a “tipped” minimum wage rate, which is less than the full minimum wage rate for non-tipped workers. However, the restaurant failed to provide proper notice of the tip credits. Rather, the defendants routinely gave the plaintiffs weekly statements that denied using any credits at all while at the same time retaining and misappropriating the tips earned by the plaintiffs.
The proposed class includes the plaintiffs and all servers, runners, bussers and bartenders who worked at Bagatelle during from January 1, 2012, to March 1, 2017.
Under the terms of the settlement, payment includes service awards to Lucas and Daghoughi awards to class members. No person eligible for payment will receive less than $50.
The case is Lucas et al. v. JEC II LLC et al., case number 1:16-cv-03347, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
Published on May-25-17
The suit was brought by former servers Jallal Daghoughi and Maxime Lucas, who alleged that while they worked at Bagatelle their tips were misappropriated because the defendants, JEC II LLC and Bagatelle Little West 12th LLC, required that they share their tips with captains and other non-service employees, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
According to court documents, “The named plaintiffs maintain that Bagatelle required them to share the tips of food service employees with ‘back of the house’ employees such as glasses polishers and food expeditors. The named plaintiffs also contend that defendants were ineligible to apply the FLSA and NYLL tip credit to food service employees’ hourly wages because defendants failed to meet the statutory notice prerequisites, which must be followed in order to pay employees pursuant to a tip credit.”
The lawsuit, filed in May, 2016, goes on to assert that Bagatelle paid the plaintiffs a “tipped” minimum wage rate, which is less than the full minimum wage rate for non-tipped workers. However, the restaurant failed to provide proper notice of the tip credits. Rather, the defendants routinely gave the plaintiffs weekly statements that denied using any credits at all while at the same time retaining and misappropriating the tips earned by the plaintiffs.
The proposed class includes the plaintiffs and all servers, runners, bussers and bartenders who worked at Bagatelle during from January 1, 2012, to March 1, 2017.
Under the terms of the settlement, payment includes service awards to Lucas and Daghoughi awards to class members. No person eligible for payment will receive less than $50.
The case is Lucas et al. v. JEC II LLC et al., case number 1:16-cv-03347, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
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