On March 24, 2015, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Landry’s, Inc. and its subsidiaries McCormick & Schmick Restaurant Corp. and Landry’s Seafood House-Arlington, Inc., on behalf of all servers, bussers, and other tipped workers who have worked at the “McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood & Steaks” that operated in New York City between March 24, 2009 and June 13, 2014.
Landry’s Inc. (“Landry’s”) is a globally recognized restaurant and entertainment company which owns and operates a vast collection of highly rated restaurants, hotels, and other entertainment destinations such as casinos. Landry’s philosophical keys to success, as provided by their corporate website, include an alleged focus on “Motivated Employees”, by which they “create a work environment of pride, honesty, integrity and loyalty”. Regardless of the veracity of their policy, it is clear that Landry’s has experienced tremendous financial success. The Landry’s brand has expanded from a single seafood house in Katy, Texas to include restaurants in cities as far reaching as New York, Chicago, Tokyo, London, and Mexico City. Now, Landry’s owns and operates over 450 properties, including more than 80 McCormick & Schmick restaurants. A few of the restaurant chains they own include Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Claim Jumper, Landry’s Seafood, Mastro’s Restaurants, Morton’s The Steakhouse, Rainforest Café, Chart House, Saltgrass Steak House, The Oceanaire, and Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse.
The Plaintiff, on behalf of himself and all similarly situated class members, submits that he was subjected to widespread policies which violated his rights as provided under the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). He specifically alleges that Defendants failed to compensate its employees at a time-and-a-half rate for all hours worked in excess of 40 per workweek, as required under the NYLL. The named Plaintiff, for instance, often worked up to 55 hours per week without receiving any overtime premium. Further, the lawsuit argues that Defendants failed to pay Plaintiff and class members the minimum hourly wages to which they were entitled to under the NYLL. Specifically, that Defendants failed to properly utilize a tip credit provision because they failed to properly identify the tip allowance and notify its employees, in writing, of their regular and overtime hourly pay rates, the amount of the tip credit Defendants were taking from their wages, their regular pay day, or that extra pay would be required if tips were insufficient to bring them up to the basic minimum hourly rate, as required under the NYLL. Therefore, Plaintiff alleges that class members were entitled to the full minimum wage rate for all hours worked, which they did not receive. Additionally, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants misappropriated class members’ tips by automatically deducting and redistributing a portion of servers’ tips to hosts who were not on duty, and by not permitting employees to handle these transactions themselves.
The lawsuit alleges that Defendants failed to provide spread-of-hours pay to their employees. Employees who work over 10 hours in a single day, including working time plus time off for meals plus intervals off duty, are required by law to receive an additional hours pay from their employer. The lawsuit also alleges that the owners of these establishments further violated the NYLL through its failure to provide its employees with proper wage notices and statements.
We are currently seeking servers, bussers, and other tipped workers who worked at the “McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood & Steaks” that operated in New York City between March 24, 2009 and June 13, 2014. Further, we are investigating other Landry’s owned properties for similar illegal practices and policies and are looking to speak with employees who have worked for any of the locations listed above, or any other Landry’s owned and operated location. Eligible employees should contact us in order to join the case. For additional information, please call the employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP at (212) 300-0375 or visit our website at www.fslawfirm.com