PHILADELPHIA, PA — Two Philadelphia restaurants recently agreed to settlement terms with the Department of Labor to resolve claims that the company systematically underpaid over 150 current and former workers over the course of several years. Under the settlement agreement, Tierra Colombiana and Mixto will pay almost $830,000 in back pay, interest, and liquidated damages to 156 workers across the pair’s locations and pay an additional $10,000 to the Labor Department in a civil penalty.
“This resolution restores back wages rightfully earned by hard-working employees,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director James Cain, in Philadelphia. “We encourage all employers to take advantage of the Division’s education and outreach efforts to help them understand their responsibilities and how to properly comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act.”
According to an investigation by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, the defendants violated the minimum wage, overtime, and record keeping components of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Despite servers, bartenders, barbacks, runners, hostesses, kitchen chefs, and dishwashers regularly working over the 40-hour overtime pay threshold, the defendants failed to pay these workers one and a half times their average hourly rate of pay.
“This enforcement action will ensure that workers are paid for all of the hours they worked, and will go a long way in leveling the playing field for employers in the restaurant industry,” said Regional Solicitor Oscar L. Hampton III.
Unfortunately, wage theft is all too common in the restaurant industry where businesses try to keep overhead as low as possible by suppressing worker wages and refusing to pay employees for all their hours worked. Fortunately, in addition to setting minimum wage and overtime pay rates, the FLSA also gives workers the legal right to recover their unpaid wages in the event that their employer violates the law. Unpaid overtime lawsuits can recover back pay with interest, liquidated damages equal to the individual’s unpaid earnings, attorneys fees, and other damages the court may see fit to award.
Restaurant Worker Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit
Call (855) 754-2795 or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form on the top right of this page if you believe that your wage rights are being violated under the FLSA. Our top-rated team of unpaid wage lawyers will evaluate your situation to determine your best course of action to help you seek justice.
Our office will also determine if it is in your best interest to file a lawsuit against your employer. Because strict time limitations apply for filing these types of claims, we advise you contact our experienced unpaid overtime wage attorneys at your earliest convenience and preserve your legal rights.