The popular casual dining and sports bar franchise, Buffalo Wild Wings, is being sued by two former tipped workers for unpaid wages. The plaintiffs, represented by Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, allege that Buffalo Wild Wings failed to pay the proper minimum wage and overtime to servers, bussers, bartenders, and other tipped workers as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (\u201cFLSA\u201d) and the New York Labor Law (\u201cNYLL\u201d). Additionally, the class action lawsuit seeks to recover damages for uniform-related expenses, and other statutory penalties under the NYLL.<\/p>\n
Employees who may be affected include any tipped worker who works or has worked for Buffalo Wild Wings located in New York and Connecticut within the past six years. One of the alleged violations includes Buffalo Wild Wings failing to inform them of the tipped minimum wage or \u201ctip credit\u201d provisions of the FLSA or the NYLL. Buffalo Wild Wings should have paid tipped workers the full minimum wage rate (currently $9.00 per hour in NY) rather than the tipped minimum wage rate (currently $7.50 per hour in NY). The plaintiffs also allege that Buffalo Wild Wings required tipped workers to spend two hours or an excess of 20% of their work shift performing non-tip producing \u201cside work\u201d which includes a long list of cleaning duties and preparatory responsibilities. Therefore, Buffalo Wild Wings should have paid tipped workers the full minimum wage rate rather than the reduced tipped minimum wage rate. Moreover, when tipped workers worked in excess of 40 hours per week, they should have been compensated time and one-half the full minimum wage rate rather than the reduced overtime rate.<\/p>\n
Finally, although tipped workers were given a sports jersey featuring the Buffalo Wild Wings logo as a uniform, they were not provided a sufficient number of them. The franchise also failed to launder and maintain the uniform and pay its tipped workers the required weekly uniform-maintenance amount in addition to the required minimum wage. This lawsuit seeks to recover the difference between the reduced tipped minimum wage and the full minimum wage, premium overtime pay for hours worked in excess of forty per workweek, uniform-related expenses, and statutory damages for failing to provide proper annual wage notices and proper wage statements.<\/p>\n