A New York federal court has granted conditional class certification to plaintiffs employed by T.G.I. Friday’s who allege underpayment for side work and lack of payment for overtime work in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Flood v. Carlson Restaurants Inc., No. 14-2740 (S.D.N.Y., filed April 17, 2014). The restaurant employs as many as 42,000 tipped workers throughout the United States who are eligible to join the nationwide class. T.G.I. Friday’s argued that the named plaintiffs were not similar enough to merit class certification, but the court disagreed, finding that the plaintiffs’ “declarations and depositions—which cover eight T.G.I. Friday’s locations in four states—contain common allegations of FLSA violations, including Defendants’ denial of full minimum wage and overtime compensation for tipped workers.” The court dismissed the restaurant’s arguments on the merits of the case, noting that those issues could not be addressed at the class certification stage, and directed…
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Citing the role of excess dietary sodium in the development of cardiovascular disease and industry resistance to federal action mandating reductions, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) this week issued a report claiming that the top 25 U.S. restaurant chains have failed to lower the amount of sodium in nearly 3,000 menu items between 2012 and 2014. “As a whole, the nation’s leading restaurants are failing miserably when it comes to their patrons’ heart health,” CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson said. “And, unfortunately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has failed for decades to tell the food industry to lower sodium and by how much.” The public health watchdog reportedly analyzed restaurant sodium data from Menustat.org, a New York City health department database providing nutritional information about fare served at the nation’s largest restaurant chains. See CSPI News Release, December 2, 2014. Issue 547
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finalized two rules under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that require chain restaurants and vending machine operators to disclose calorie information on menus or at the point of purchase. Generating more than 1,100 public comments, the federal rules aim to standardize labeling requirements “to provide consumers with more nutritional information about the foods they eat outside of the home.” Effective December 1, 2015, the menu-labeling final rule applies to restaurants and similar retail food establishments with more than 20 locations, as well as food facilities in movie theaters, amusement parks and other entertainment venues. According to FDA, which narrowed the scope of the rule to focus on restaurant-style food, the new labeling provisions cover standard menu items, certain alcohol beverages and multi-serving dishes labeled on a per-serving basis, but exempt “condiments, daily specials, temporary menu items, and food that…
A New York federal court has rejected Wolfgang’s Steakhouse and ZMF Restaurants LLC’s motion to dismiss a case alleging that the restaurant violated the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA) by printing credit card expiration dates on receipts. Fullwood v. Wolfgang’s Steakhouse, Inc., No. 13-7174 (S.D.N.Y., order entered November 14, 2014). The court found that the plaintiff’s amended complaint insufficiently supported its allegation that Wolfgang’s knew of the ramifications of violating FACTA yet wilfully disregarded the law, but granted her leave to amend. The plaintiff brought her putative class action after receiving a receipt from Wolfgang’s that displayed her credit card’s expiration date. She did not, however, allege any actual damages from the disclosure. Under FACTA, actual damages can be awarded for both negligent and willful violations; only willful violations, however, can result in the statutory and punitive damages that the plaintiff seeks. Accordingly, the court devoted much of…
A new study has reportedly found that U.K. residents with at least two fast-food restaurants within 500 meters of their homes have significantly increased odds of developing Type-2 diabetes. Danielle Bodicoat, et al., “Is the number of fast-food outlets in the neighborhood related to screen-detected type 2 diabetes mellitus and associated risk factors?,” Public Health Nutrition, November 2014. After analyzing data from three cross-sectional studies with a total of 10,000 participants, University of Leicester researchers estimated that for every additional two outlets per neighborhood, the population would have one additional diabetes case, “assuming a causal relationship between the fast-food outlets and diabetes.” “The observed association between the number of fast-food outlets with obesity and type 2 diabetes does not come as a surprise; fast-food is high in total fat, trans-fatty acids and sodium, portion sizes have increased two to fivefold over the last 50 years and a single fast-food meal provides…
An Arizona resident has filed a putative class action in an Illinois federal court claiming that Jimmy John’s Franchise, LLC failed to secure its customers’ personal and financial data, which were purportedly accessed through the company’s point-of-sale systems at some 216 restaurant locations, between June and September 2014. Irwin v. Jimmy John’s Franchise, LLC, No. 14-2275 (C.D. Ill., filed November 6, 2014). While the named plaintiff alleges that access to her credit card information led to “five fraudulent charges to the credit card that she used during the aforesaid transactions at Jimmy John’s,” she seeks to represent 39 separate statewide classes and a District of Columbia class of all those who used a debit or credit card at Jimmy John’s during the data breach regardless of whether they actually experienced a loss or identity theft. The plaintiff alleges that Jimmy John’s failed to promptly discover and block the data breach,…
Bob Evans servers who were paid under the “tip credit” provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claim in a collective action filed in a Florida federal court that they “were not compensated at least the proper minimum wage for all hours worked as a result of being required to pay for uniforms.” McDaniel v. Bob Evans Farms, LLC, No. 14-2767 (M.D. Fla., filed November 3, 2014). Named plaintiff Emily McDaniel alleges that she was paid an hourly rate of $4.77 plus tips, which increased to $4.91 plus tips, and that she and other servers “were required to pay Defendant for uniforms, including but not limited to, Bob Evans T-shirts and aprons.” She claims that this resulted in an FLSA violation because servers “have not been paid the minimum wage for each hour worked during their employment.” She seeks certification of a class of servers, declaratory relief and awards of…
A California state court has approved the settlement of a putative class action alleging that Barney’s Worldwide Inc., owner of the Barney’s Beanery restaurant chain, falsely advertised its beef as Kobe beef when a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ban on the import of beef from Kobe, Japan, was in effect. Nalbantian v. Barney’s Worldwide Inc., No. BC493145 (Cal. Super. Ct., Cty. of Los Angeles, approval entered October 23, 2014). The plaintiff had alleged that Barney’s advertised its menu as containing Kobe beef—which the plaintiff said indicates that the beef comes from Wagyu-breed cattle raised and slaughtered in Kobe, Japan—despite a USDA ban imposed due to fears of disease in May 2010. Under the settlement, the restaurant chain will use “Kobe beef” on its menu only if it is listed as “American Kobe beef” and will pay up to $220,000 in $10 gift certificates to any class member who submits a claim…
A New York federal court has approved a $910,000 settlement in a class action contending that Pret A Manger failed to pay employees for the time it took them to put on uniforms or time spent waiting for the changing room. Trinidad v. Pret A Manger (USA) Ltd., No. 12-6094 (S.D.N.Y., order entered September 19, 2014). Under the settlement agreement, Pret will pay $910,000 to the class to be distributed on a sliding scale, with $5 to class members employed for less than a week, and about $4.50 per week to class members who worked there longer. Class counsel sought 33 percent of the settlement fund for attorney’s fees, but the court found fault with some of counsel’s billing practices. It noted that approximately 70 percent of the billed hours were worked by a partner at the rate of $550 per hour, but “a close review of the tasks that [the…
According to a news source, a Smith & Wollensky waiter has filed a putative class action lawsuit in a Nevada state court alleging that he was forced to share tips with assistant and general managers and even had to pay them hundreds of dollars for preferential customers, tables, shifts, or time off. Waiter Mario Viggiani has reportedly estimated that on an average night, he paid managers $65, but on busy nights he paid them “upwards of $200.” The complaint cites a Nevada law that makes it unlawful for employers “to require an employee to rebate, refund or return any part of the wage, salary or compensation earned and paid,” as well as a law making it unlawful “for any person to take all or part of any tips or gratuities bestowed upon the employees of that person.” The upscale steakhouse chain apparently has eight other facilities in the United States,…
