Ex-Employees Claim Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub Took Illegal Tip Credit on Wages

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Three plaintiffs who formerly worked as servers at Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub in Clearfield, Pennsylvania have sued the restaurant’s operating company and its owners over allegations the workers are owed unpaid minimum wages resulting from improper tip pooling. The lawsuit claims the defendants violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Pennsylvania wage and hour laws by applying a tip credit to employees’ wages without providing proposed class members with proper notice and the amount of the credit, or sharing with the workers their rights.

The case takes particular issue with the defendants’ alleged policy of requiring tipped employees to make a “drop” into designated tip-out envelopes for kitchen and bar staff, including managers.

“The tip pool, to which only the servers contributed, was then distributed amongst the kitchen staff and bar staff, many of whom do not customarily and regularly receive tips, including but not limited to, line cooks, fry cooks, grill cooks, setup cooks, dishwashers and/or caterer managers, and bartenders and bar managers, and, upon information and belief, other members of management who qualify as an ‘employer’ under the FLSA,” the lawsuit claims.

The complaint goes on to claim proposed class members contributed amounts into the allegedly illegal tip pool based on shortages and unpaid tabs, as well as meals compensated by the restaurant for reasons ranging from customer dissatisfaction to meals “eaten and enjoyed” by the defendants. Further still, the plaintiffs claim they and proposed class members often worked more than 40 hours per week without being paid mandatory time-and-a-half hourly overtime wages.