Lawsuit Claims Shuttered AL Tilted Kilt Operator’s Uniform Policy Deprived Tipped Employees of Minimum Wage

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

The operator of a Tilted Kilt restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama that closed its doors in May 2017 is the defendant in a proposed collective action in which the plaintiff claims tipped employees—waiters, waitresses and bartenders—are owed unpaid wages.

The plaintiff alleges the defendant, Bal TK, LLC, systematically denied tipped employees proper wages as a result of failing to pay the workers for time spent donning and doffing mandatory work uniforms, as well as attending pre-shift meetings.

“The Tipped Employees were not allowed to wear this uniform to the restaurant, but had to change on premises,” the suit says, adding the workers were required to arrive at least 30 minutes before their scheduled shift start times to change into uniforms and “do their hair and makeup to the satisfaction of the manager on duty.” In instances where a tipped server was not “camera ready,” the lawsuit goes on, they would be sent back to the restaurant’s dressing room.

“The Tipped Employees were not paid for this time at all,” the case says. “In fact, their time was not recorded until they were clocked in by a supervisor, usually when they served the first customer.”

Similarly, the case claims the defendant required members of the proposed collective to pay for said uniforms out of pocket, which the plaintiff says drove tipped employees’ pay rates for the period in which the uniforms were purchased below the federal minimum. Moreover, tipped servers were also reportedly required to spend their own funds on outfits for holidays, football-themed parties and other special events without reimbursement.

Alleged reimbursement and off-the-clock pay issues aside, the lawsuit claims the defendant applied an improper tip credit to tipped servers’ wages that supposedly deprived the individuals of the mandatory minimum wage. The plaintiff alleges servers and bartenders were not allowed to keep all gratuities from customers and were required to repay the defendant in the event a customer walked out on a bill.