On January 16, 2009, Outten & Golden filed a class action wage and hour lawsuit in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York against Bold Food, LLC, the company that operates celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s restaurants – Bar Americain in New York, Mesa Grill NYC in New York, Mesa Grill Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nev., and Bobby Flay Steak at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., and formerly owned and/or operated Bolo in New York. The plaintiffs allege that Mr. Flay’s company violated the wage and hour laws by engaging in improper tip-pooling practices; failing to properly distribute the “mandatory gratuities” it charged its private party customers; redistributing portions of employees’ tips to non-tip eligible employees; failing to pay proper overtime compensation to employees who worked more than 40 hours in a work week; failing to reimburse workers for the cost of purchasing and laundering required uniforms; and failing to pay workers “spread of hour pay” for days on which they worked more than ten hours. The complaint also charges that Bar Americain suspended one named plaintiff, Patrick deMunecas, in retaliation for raising concerns with management about the restaurants’ tip policies.
Please email Justin M. Swartz or call (212) 658-0142 for more information.
(*Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.)
