Judge Rudolph T. Randa of the Eastern District of Wisconsin granted final approval of a $235,000 class action settlement on behalf of waiters and waitresses against La Fuente’s three Milwaukee area restaurants. Case No. 13-cv-366. Hawks Quindel, S.C. brought the lawsuit on behalf of the waiters and waitresses in 2013 alleging La Fuente violated both state and federal wage laws by:
- Failing to provide the waiters and waitresses notice of the FLSA’s tip credit provisions which explain how the tip credit works and why they can be paid less than minimum wage;
- Operating a tip pool in which non-tipped employees, parking lot attendants, received some of the waiters and waitresses tips;
- Requiring its waiters and waitresses to pay for customer walk-outs, or returned food and drink orders; and/or
- Failing to maintain records establishing that La Fuente withheld the required taxes on all tips the Servers reported to La Fuente.