Giordano’s Pizza Restaurant Workers Not Paid Enough for Untipped Work, Lawsuit Alleges

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The operator of Giordano’s pizza restaurants has been hit with a proposed class and collective action wherein an employee claims she and other tipped workers were paid less than the minimum hourly wage for untipped work.

According to the 13-page case, defendant VPC Pizza Management, whose Giordano’s chain is known for serving Chicago’s famous deep-dish pizzas, has paid its servers at the sub-minimum tipped rate for every hour worked without satisfying the strict legal requirements for applying a tip credit to their wages.

The plaintiff, who the suit says has worked for Giordano’s within the past three years, alleges it was the company’s policy and practice to have servers perform non-tip-producing side work unrelated to their tipped duties while paying them at a sub-minimum tipped rate.

Similarly, the case says, Giordano’s servers were also required to spend more than 20 percent of their time, or periods of time exceeding 30 minutes, performing non-tip-producing work related to their tipped duties. 

According to the lawsuit, the Fair Labor Standards Act and Ohio law require employers to pay workers at the full minimum hourly wage rate, and not at their tipped rate, for substantial amounts of side work and “dual job duties.”

The case further alleges that the defendant, who operates Giordano’s locations in several states, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin, has run afoul of another provision of Ohio law in that employees’ wages, as a result of the pizza chain’s wage payment practices, have gone unpaid for more than 30 days beyond their regularly scheduled payday.

The plaintiff looks to represent current and former tipped servers employed by VPC Pizza Management at any time within the past three years and until the lawsuit concludes.

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