New York, Conn., Penn. Applebee’s Workers Denied Proper Pay, Lawsuit Claims

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

The operators of dozens of Applebee’s restaurants across New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania have failed to pay proper wages for every hour worked and provide appropriate meal and rest breaks, a proposed class and collective action claims.

According to the case out of New York’s Northern District Court, Applebee’s employees were not paid for the minimum four hours per shift or off-the-clock work performed before and after each shift and during breaks. Further, the workers were deprived of proper overtime wages for time spent working over 40 hours each week, and tipped workers are owed wages for time spent performing non-tipped duties, the lawsuit alleges.

Per the case, defendants T.L. Cannon Corp.; T.L. Cannon Management Corp.; TLC West, LLC; TLC Central, LLC; TLC Utica, LLC; TLC East, LLC; and TLC North, LLC own and operate 60 Applebee’s restaurants, 53 of which are in New York with the rest in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. 

The two plaintiffs say they’ve worked as servers since October 2019 and January 2020, respectively, at the defendants’ North Syracuse Applebee’s location. Despite being classified as tipped employees and paid less than the hourly minimum wage, the plaintiffs were required to perform “a substantial amount” of non-tipped cleaning, sanitation, car-side prep and car runner duties for which they should have been paid at the minimum wage rate or higher, the lawsuit says.

Moreover, the suit claims the plaintiffs frequently performed work before and after their shifts for which they received no compensation. One of the plaintiffs says she was regularly asked to clock out after working six hours without being provided a meal break yet was told to continue working to clean and close the restaurant. Per the case, the plaintiff was asked to clock out so that no meal break violation would appear to have occurred even though the server had not been provided a proper break in compliance with state law and had instead accrued unpaid off-the-clock work.

The second plaintiff says he witnessed management employees clock out bartenders, servers, and to-go runners for half-hour breaks that were never taken.

Lastly, the case claims the plaintiffs would often show up for a scheduled shift after being told they would be paid for a minimum of three hours and then be asked to clock out after only half an hour. On these occasions, the plaintiffs were paid for only one half-hour of work, the suit says.

Alleged in the lawsuit are violations of the New York Labor Law and federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s newsletter here.