OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — An Oklahoma not-for-profit is involved in a federal lawsuit after the U.S. Department of Labor says it isn't paying its workers a fair wage and is violating federal labor laws.
Not Your Average Joe is a popular coffee shop and bakery that focuses on employing students and adults with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities.
The company, which operates numerous shops throughout the metro and is listed as a not-for-profit corporation and charitable organization, is being sued by the United States Department of Labor for failing to follow federal law and for allegedly taking advantage of its employees.
The lawsuit states that Not Your Average Joe violated the Fair labor Standards Act of 1938 by "keeping employees' tips, failing to pay employees for all hours worked, failing to pay employees at one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, and engaging in oppressive child labor."
The U.S. Department of Labor says Tim Herbel, the company's founder and executive director, would pool employee tips and "subjectively determined an amount to allocate to each employee," adding that employees would receive cash in an envelope with no explanation of how the amount was determined.
In addition to pooling tips, the Labor Department says Herbel would sometimes distribute tips weeks or months after the pay period when tips were received.
The lawsuit claims the company would also withhold employee tips to...
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