(Reuters) - National restaurant chain Fleming's Prime Steakhouse was hit with a proposed collective action on Tuesday claiming it pays the lower minimum wage for tipped workers to servers and bartenders while requiring them to perform "excessive" non-tipped tasks.
Former Fleming's server John Thomas filed the lawsuit in Boston federal court, saying the company routinely had workers spend more than 20% of their time on non-tipped work such as cleaning and chopping fruit while paying them a "sub-minimum wage" as low as $2.13 per hour.
Thomas says Fleming's practice violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
The lawsuit names Florida-based Fleming's and its parent, OS Restaurant Services LLC, which also owns Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill and other restaurant brands. Fleming's operates about 60 restaurants in more than 20 states.
OS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Department of Labor last year revived a longstanding rule that had been eliminated during the Trump administration requiring businesses to pay at least the standard federal minimum wage of $7.25 when workers spend more than 20% of their time, or more than 30 consecutive minutes, on non-tipped tasks.
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