The owner of an upscale Doral food hall shorted workers $225,000 in pay, lawsuit says
Former bar staff at Doral’s Shoma Bazaar say their bosses underpaid them by $225,451 by dipping into their tips while paying them under the minimum wage for non-tipped employees.
That’s in a lawsuit filed in Miami federal court by 11 employees against Shoma Group, LLC. If accurate, that works out to an average of $20,495.54 per person.
As of Wednesday, the case had been referred to U.S. Magistrate Judge Eduardo Sanchez for a settlement conference.
“A settlement conference before a magistrate judge proceeds in much the same way as a mediation before a private mediator,” the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of Florida explains.
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“Our policy is not to comment on the merits of active litigation, but it is important to note that the wrong entity was sued and none of the plaintiffs were employed by Shoma Group, LLC,” said a statement from Fisher & Phillips’ Steven A. Siegel, representing Shoma Bazaar. “This suit, which was filed in the wrong forum against the wrong defendant, was filed by a small group of barbacks and bartenders at the Shoma Bazaar who were employed by Shoma Bazaar One LLC.”
According to state records, Shoma Bazaar One LLC operates out of 201 Sevilla Ave. Suite No. 300 in Coral Gables; uses Coconut Grove’s Erra Registered Agents as its agent; and has Manager Masoud Shojaee as an authorized person.
Developer Shoma Group, meanwhile, operates out of 201 Sevilla Ave. Suite No. 300 in Coral Gables; uses Coconut Grove’s Erra Registered Agents as its agent; and has Manager Masoud Shojaee and President Stephanie Shojaee as authorized persons.
Plaintiff attorney Andres Felipe Vidales of Quintairos, Prieto, Wood, and Boyer said Tuesday afternoon that he has not been told the lawsuit names the wrong defendant.
Also, Vidales explained his plaintiffs went through the courts instead of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, which investigates pay violation claims for these reasons: a faster process; rules of discovery making Shoma produce more information; and a possible doubling of the amount owed the plaintiffs via liquidated damages.
Labor’s Wage and Hour Division can be reached in person by going to one of the local offices or by phone at 866-487-9243 (4US-WAGE). Help is available in around 200 languages.
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Too many fingers in the tip jar, too many toes in the tip pool?
Shoma Bazaar opened at 9420 NW 41st St. in February 2022, when the state minimum wage was $10 per hour. That increased to $11 per hour on Sept. 30, 2022.
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Florida state law, businesses can claim a “tip credit” that allows employers to pay tipped employees $3.02 under the minimum wage. In Florida, “tipped employees,” according to a U.S. Department of Labor chart, are defined as employees who receive at least $30 per month in tips.
But FLSA puts restrictions on employers who claim the tip credit. There’s a whole section of the U.S. Department of Labor’s fact sheet on FLSA rules for tipped employees titled “Employers, Including Managers and Supervisors, May Not ‘Keep’ Tips.”
And that means neither “directly nor through a tip pool,” Labor says.
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The lawsuit claims Shoma let too many folks dip into the tip pool, “including but not limited to managers or supervisors who received a portion of the plaintiffs’ tips when they were not ‘tipped’ employees.”
So, the lawsuit claims, as Shoma violated the rules for claiming a tip credit, the business owed each of the 11 workers another $3.02 per hour. That would be $120.80 over the course of a week, approximately $483.20 in a four-week month and $6,281.60 over the course of a 52-week year.
“Shoma Bazaar disregarded the FLSA’s prohibition on distributing any of its employees’ tips or overtips to traditionally non-tipped employees by distributing such tips and/or overtips to its’ managers or supervisors,” the lawsuit said. “In addition to Shoma Bazaar placing managers or supervisors in the tipping pool, Shoma Bazaar incorrectly reported the amount of tips customers left for plaintiffs in credit card transactions.”
