Workers sue Darden Restaurants over wages

[Hugabear]

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Orlando-based Darden Restaurants underpaid servers at Olive Garden, Red Lobster, LongHorn Steakhouse and Capital Grille restaurants across the country, according to allegations in a federal lawsuit filed in Miami on Thursday.

Attorneys are seeking to represent thousands of employees who worked at the four chains since August 2009 with the goal of collecting potentially millions of dollars in back wages.

The suit, filed by two former employees of LongHorn and Olive Garden in Florida and Georgia, accuses Darden of making employees work without pay by waiting for customers to arrive before clocking in and clocking out early.

The lawsuit also said Darden required servers, who often make less than minimum wage because they get tips, to perform too much non-tipped work such as rolling napkins and vacuuming.

Read more: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-09-06/business/os-darden-server-lawsuit-20120906_1_darden-restaurants-bahama-breeze-longhorn-steakhouse

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Gee...a corporation headed by right-wingers exploiting their workers? Color me SHOCKED.

Seriously...I hope these workers really put a hurting on Darden and get what's due them.

[slackmaster]

1. There is only one way, and it's not the Olive Garden way

[LiberalEsto]

3. Ramen!

and may the pasta be with you.

[wilt the stilt]

2. This is very typical at all restaurants

It is called sidework. I was a waiter and it has been going on forever. I don't think this is a great lawsuit and not necessarily winnable.

[Arctic Dave]

5. In what State do you base this off of?

I do not know of a single restaurant in Alaska that does this.

[wilt the stilt]

8. CO and GA

I worked in both states. The clocking in when customers if it can be proved will be devastating. I reread that but did not update my post. Sidework is very common.

[Arctic Dave]

9. That is freakin crazy.

Do you still work in that industry?

[wilt the stilt]

10. no this was many years ago

I last worked as a waiter in 1989. I can tell you it probably hasn't changed much. I worked as a waiter for 10 years and worked at really nice establishments.

[Posteritatis]

6. Lots of questionably legal (or unquestionably illegal) things are typical at lots of restaurants

That doesn't mean employers have anything even vaguely resembling a right to order staff to clock out before the end of their shift.

[Sgent]

7. Sidework is allowed

but there are very specific rules for it -- no more than 30 min before or after a shift. If you needed longer than that, they must pay you min. wage.

Also, you cannot be required to be at the job, but not paid. If the employer requires your presence on the job site, you should be clocked in.

[Ash_F]

13. You probably don't know much about Darden

They are fuckers, trust me.

[oldsarge54]

4. We Want the 1900 Plan

Fine the workers for sitting down. If they have to go to the bathroom, they have to clock off, remove aprons, do your thing, wash up (under supervision, not in the lavatory, redon your apron and other work protectors, and then clock in. Another dirty trick is if business is slow, you have to clock off, but you cannot leave the premisis. BTW, water is free, but you got to pay for your sodas. Funny, it is not just the restaurant business as weel. Like I indicated earlier, the Republicans want the pre-union world back, then wonder why there is no middle class.

[antigone382]

11. That was the worst and most soulless place I ever worked.

I was in the kitchen at Red Lobster, so I didn't make minimum wage, but they demanded a huge amount of work in a totally unreasonable amount

of time...and if you couldn't make that time they used it to justify denying you a raise--the whole $0.25 you were eligible for each year. Then they shipped most of the prep work to factories in South East Asia (be advised, your shrimp scampi now comes as a frozen disk all the way from Vietnam. We pull it out of the freezer, pop it in the dish, and send it through the broiler), but they didn't go ahead and lay off workers so that we could collect unemployment. They just had us all come in every day for two hour (or less) shifts.

And on top of that, they frowned heavily upon any breaks--even on Valentine's weekend when people were working 12 hour shifts.The whole place just sucked awfully. Only the people I worked with (which changed a lot as they had an EXTREMELY high turnover) made it bearable.

[reflection]

12. When I was a teenager, I settled with a restaurant chain for this exact same thing

I waited tables through high school and some of college. They made us roll silverware off the clock. I refused. My hours were cut in a meeting with all workers present and I was made an example of. They verbally articulated to everyone that I was losing X hours a week because I was not a "good company worker."

I filed a complaint with the Labor Board that day, kept working there (it was close enough to walk to and my car was dogcrap), and kept track of the hours I was penalized in a journal. Over a year later, the board scheduled a hearing. Less than a week later, the company offered to settle. I received a settlement check for the wages I would have received had I worked those hours. It was a nice check for a kid. I felt a little guilty for getting wages for hours I didn't work, but I didn't set those wheels in motion, they did. Some of the other servers were happy for me and others were pissed that they had rolled silverware for free for over a year.

[Great Caesars Ghost]

14. Are they unionized?