Firebirds restaurant serving American food has agreed to pay $2.5M to resolve the wage theft claims against them.<\/p>\n
If you worked as a server at any of the Firebirds Restaurant between May 12, 2014, and Jan 3, 2019, then you may get benefits from the settlement. An estimated 7,050 servers include in the Firebirds restaurant settlement Class. According to the lawsuit the Firebirds failed to pay its servers the minimum or legal wages.<\/p>\n
In 2017, the plaintiff Josh Nolen filed the class action lawsuit against Firebirds Restaurant in the court. He was claiming that he and other Firebirds\u2019 servers denied wages that align with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).<\/p>\n
Further, the lawsuit claims that the restaurant was unlawfully claiming tip credit on servers\u2019 wages without any notice. Thus the restaurant exploits FLSA tip credit provisions which allow businesses to pay their workers below minimum wage if they are also paid tips.<\/p>\n
Nolen says that he spent more than 20 percent of his time in performing non-tipped duties such as making coffee, cleaning counters and more. He argued that he should be given minimum wages for his extra time.<\/p>\n
However, the lawsuit asserts that the Firebirds failed to track the amount of time spent by its servers performing non-tipped duties. And, the restaurant was unable to pay their servers the federal minimum wage.<\/p>\n
According to the settlement, the class representative, Nolen and the other named plaintiff will receive $15,000 as a service award. Also, the class counsel can ask for one-third of the settlement fund.<\/p>\n
The class members who file a valid claim by April 6, 2019, will get cash payment. The amount received by each claimant will depend upon the amount of time they spent working for Firebirds Restaurants. Also, it depends upon their state\u2019s tip credit of minimum wage.<\/p>\n
All those class members who file a claim will receive 100 percent of their pro rata share of the settlement fund. And, who do not submit a Claim Form but do not opt out of the Firebirds settlement will receive 50 percent of their pro rata share.<\/p>\n
The deadline for opting out of the settlement is April 6, 2019. And, the final approval hearing is on May 15, 2019.<\/p>\n
The individuals who worked as a server at a Firebirds restaurant between May 12, 2014 and Jan 3, 2019 are eligible for the claim.<\/p>\n