Summers Compton Wells obtains summary judgment on behalf of restaurant client in Federal tip pool lawsuit

Congratulations to SCW litigation attorneys James “Jim” Nowogrocki and Francine Eichhorn for obtaining summary judgment in favor of a restaurant client who was sued by two former employees claiming that its tip pool instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as well as state law claims for breach of contract, conversion and fraud. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri found that: 1) the restaurant’s inclusion of an employee who worked as an expediter/expo did not invalidate the tip pool because he had direct customer contact; (2) hosts and hostesses were customarily tipped positions at the restaurant, and as such, were properly included in the tip pool under the FLSA and (3) that the plaintiffs’ state law claims were without merit.