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Restaurant Servers File Overtime Claim

ATLANTA — Joe’s on Juniper, a popular Midtown Atlanta restaurant, is facing a potential collective action wage and overtime pay lawsuit. The lawsuit was recently filed in a Georgia federal court by three former servers. The servers are suing Metrotainment Cafes LLC, the owner of Joe’s on Juniper, along with Political Concepts LLC and Jeffrey and Amy Landau, the companies’ managing member and registered agent, for violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The Servers’ Allegations

In their lawsuit the tipped employees describe their schedules as “clopenings.” “Clopenings” are called that because they extend from around the time the restaurant’s opening until near its closing. The servers generally begin their shifts at 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning and continue working until 2:00 or 3:00 the following morning, usually at least 5 days a week. With these schedules, the servers typically worked at least 60 hours a week or more, particularly since they allegedly missed their scheduled breaks. Despite this schedule, the servers claim they did not receive overtime pay. According to the claim the restaurant altered the number of hours worked to show fewer hours so that overtime would not appear to be owed.

Tips And The FLSA

In addition to not receiving overtime wages, the servers claim the restaurant violated the FLSA in regard to their tips. First, the restaurant failed to notify tipped employees it intended to take tip credit which is required by the FLSA. The restaurant also required the employees to perform work not related to serving customers, or non-tipped work, but failed to record this time as non-tipped work. And Joe’s on Juniper required the tipped servers to “tip out,” or share their tips with non-tipped employees. Because of these violations the restaurant should have paid the tipped employees the regular minimum wage of $7.25, not the tipped wages of $2.13.

Typically the FLSA has a two-year statute of limitations, which means any lawsuit for a violation must be filed within a set period of time and can only cover two years of damages. If the employer willfully violated the FLSA, the statute of limitations is extended to three years. In this case, the former servers claim the violations were willful and are seeking other former tipped employees who worked for Joe’s on Juniper after September 2011.

Overtime pay and minimum wage violations are subject to statute of limitations. If you believe your employer has denied you proper wages, you have a limited time to file a claim. Contact our top-rated team of overtime pay lawyers today at (855) 754-2795 and our experienced legal team can evaluate your situation and discuss your options. Or you complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form. If we accept your case, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise. This means there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.

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