The server claims the restaurant "misappropriated" the tips.
St. Petersburg’s Sea Salt restaurant is facing a federal lawsuit brought by a former server alleging an illegal, “misappropriation” of tips.
Brian Coleman, who worked as a server at Sea Salt from 2015 to March 2021, filed the case against the high-end restaurant in the Sundial retail center.
In the suit, which includes co-owner Fabrizio Aielli as a defendant, Coleman claims that a fraction of his and other employees tips were sometimes diverted to the restaurant’s sommeliers, as well as to a “mandatory” tip pool. He continues saying that tips received via credit card were reduced to cover processing charges.
Meanwhile, Coleman was being paid on a reduced minimum wage, the suit states. This is allowed by federal law so long as the employee is allowed to keep 100% of their tips.
So, if Coleman was not allowed to keep a complete share of his tips, the restaurant would be in violation of federal code.
Coleman also alleges that from May to June 2020, amid of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sea Salt kept some or all of Coleman’s credit-card tips even though it had received a forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loan to compensate employees.
According to the suit, Coleman worked an average of 30 hours per week, and as a server, “was paid at the amount of the full Florida minimum wage less $3.02 per hour subtracted as the tip-credit,” meaning he was making about $5.54 an hour.
In the suit, Coleman is seeking damages for unpaid minimum wages plus misappropriated tips.
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