LANSDOWNE, PA — A Delaware County diner, its owner, and manager have been ordered to pay more than $1.35 million in back wages and liquidated damages after federal authorities said it used an illegal tip pool.
A federal court ordered Empire Diner in Lansdowne, as well as owner Ihsan Gunaydin and manager Engin Gunaydin, to pay 107 servers and kitchen workers.
A judge in August found the business and Gunaydins liable for $675,626.67 in back wages and an equal amount in damages owed to the affected current and former employees.
The action follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division in Philadelphia that determined the employer failed to comply with the tip credit requirements, specifically using servers' tips to pay bussers' wages.
The division also found the employer violated minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The department's Office of the Solicitor in Philadelphia then filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the restaurant and the Gunaydins to recover the back wages and liquidated damages owed.
In its ruling, the court found the employer willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when it failed to comply with the tip credit requirements and misused the servers' tips to pay wages.
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