Class Action Filed Against Outback Steakhouse for Allegedly Underpaying Servers
Outback Steakhouse, Newington. Photo: Google
A prospective class action lawsuit that affects hundreds of servers at nine Outback Steakhouse restaurants in Connecticut claims the chain did not pay employees the full minimum wage for performing nonservice duties.
The lawsuit, which was filed April 18 in Hartford Superior Court against the Florida-based chain, alleges servers at the Connecticut Outbacks regularly performed 30 to 60 minutes of nonservice work each day, but were paid $6.38 an hour for it. The state allows for a $6.38 minimum wage for service duties, such as waiting tables, because restaurant workers can make up the difference in tips. The lawsuit, though, alleges those same employees should have been getting the state's $10.10 minimum wage for nonservice work, such as general cleaning and stocking duties.
Hartford-based Hayber Law Firm filed suit on behalf of former Newington server Ryan Reutenauer, who worked for the eatery from February to June 2017. Richard Hayber says the restaurant owes Reutenauer "several thousands of dollars."
The class covers hundreds of servers who have worked at any of the nine Connecticut restaurants since April 4, 2017.
"We are taking about hundreds of thousands of dollars per restaurant. That is my educated guess, although we will have the exact number through discovery," Hayber said Monday.
The defendants are Outback Steakhouse of Florida LLC, its parent company Bloomin' Brands Inc., and OSI Restaurants Partners LLC, a sister company to Outback and a wholly owned subsidiary of Bloomin' Brands. All three companies are based in Tampa, Florida.
As of Monday afternoon, the defendants had not assigned an attorney to represent them in the lawsuit. Neither Bloomin' Brands spokeswoman, Cathie Koch, nor its chief legal officer, Joseph Kadow, responded to requests for comments Monday.
Hayber said it's up to out-of-state corporations to be up-to-date on the wage laws of the states in which they do business. He said the defendants in this case were not.
"National corporations that come into our state and hire minimum-wage workers have to read our laws and obey them, and these laws are well documented," Hayber said. "They minimum wage laws are supposed to be written on a poster, required to be hung in the restaurants." Hayber said he will learn via discovery whether those posters were ever put up in the Outback restaurants in question.
Connecticut law, Hayber said, also states that if employers do not differentiate service work hours and nonservice work hours, then the employee is entitled to collect on the full $10.10 minimum wage for all hours worked. "The law is very strict in this regard," he said.
"I believe that lawsuits on behalf of minimum wage workers are some of the most important lawsuits our court system can handle," Hayber said. "These workers are really the most vulnerable people in our economy. They are typically young and have the least resources and knowledge of the laws."
The lawsuit seeks certification as a class and monetary damages for unpaid wages.
Assisting Hayber is colleague Thomas Durkin.
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