Active Cases
LEGAL MATTERS HANDLED PERSONALLY SINCE 1957
February 27, 2023
Class and Collective Action Lawsuit Filed Alleging Jeff Ruby’s Restaurants Violated Federal and State Labor Laws
Lawsuit Covers Employees in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee
Today, a class and collective action lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on behalf of servers and bartenders of Jeff Ruby’s restaurants who are paid a sub-minimum wage for their work. The workers are represented by Nashville, Tennessee-based law firm, Barrett Johnston Martin & Garrison, PLLC and the Columbus, Ohio-based law firm Barkan Meizlish DeRose Cox, LLP.
This case was brought on behalf of hundreds of servers and bartenders who have worked at The Precinct and Carlo & Johnny restaurants in Cincinnati, as well as those who worked at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse restaurants in Cincinnati, Columbus, Louisville, Lexington, and Nashville. These servers and bartenders were paid a sub-minimum hourly wage under what the law calls a “tip credit” – but this lawsuit alleges that Jeff Ruby’s restaurants violated the legal requirements for this pay practice.
The allegations are simple: that Jeff Ruby’s restaurants used a tip-pooling scheme to take employees’ earned tips and pay their other employees who did not earn the tips and did not even interact with customers in any meaningful way. The lawsuit also alleges that servers and bartenders at Jeff Ruby’s restaurants were required to conduct non-tip producing work at a sub-minimum hourly wage.
“Unfortunately, servers and bar tenders’ wage rights are often violated by their employers,” said David Garrison, a lawyer at Barrett Johnston who is serving as lead counsel in this case. “While the labor market may be booming, too many employers skimp on their responsibility to pay their employees according to the law – and we’re proud to enforce those laws.”
“Every worker deserves an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work,” added Bob DeRose of Barkan Meizlish. DeRose added that “for these workers that means keeping the tips they have earned and earning at least the minimum wage required by federal and state law.”
Have you been affected by this lawsuit?
OR CALL US AT (614) 221-4221
If you are a current or former bartender or server at Jeff Ruby’s within the last three years (Kentucky employees the last five years) you may be able to recover unpaid wages.