Do Red Lobster, Olive Garden Restaurants Underpay Their Workers?

In September 2012, two former employees of Darden Restaurants, the company behind such well-known names as Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Long Horn Steakhouse, filed a class action accusing the company of underpaying staff for ‘side work’, or non-server related tasks performed at work. In the suit filed in the Southern District of Florida, plaintiffs allege that while they’re paid the minimum wage, they were required to perform various other tasks, including cleaning and food preparation. They also alleged that they were required to arrive at work before their shift started to help prepare the restaurants, but delayed punching in until customers had arrived. Employees also claim that some tasks were performed at the end of shifts after logging out, and therefore were not compensated.

As many as 300,000 current and former employees may qualify.

The initial suit, filed by just two employees has now added more than 50 plaintiffs, who further accused the company of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act. Darden has previously come under the Department of Labor’s radar for alleged wage and hour violations and paid more than $15,000 in back wages to Olive Garden employees in 2011, as well as $27,000 in back pay to Red Lobster workers. The company also paid $30,800 and $24,000 fines, respectively. Nationwide, Darden operates more than 2,000 restaurants and employs more than 180,000 people.

A separate ongoing lawsuit also accuses Darden of deceptive billing practices in which the company adds gratuities to customers’ bills even when servicing small parties. In New York, this is only legal for groups of eight or more – and Darden is accused of flouting this rule, adding up to an 18% tip to bills of groups of three or four customers.

To qualify to join the wage and hour suit, employees and former employees must have worked at one of the restaurants within the past three years. As many as 300,000 current and former employees may qualify to join to suit to seek back pay for tasks performed without adequate compensation.