NASHVILLE, TN — On Tuesday, March 9, 2021 two separate judges who preside in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee approved settlements of tip and wage theft claims, covering almost 500 workers and valuing more than $1 million in total payout. The cases were brought against Strategic Hospitality (Pinewood Social, Downtown Sporting Club, The Bandbox, Merchant’s, Bastion, Henrietta Red, Patterson House, and The Catbird Seat) and M Street Entertainment Group (Tavern, Saint Añejo, Kayne Prime, Moto, Virago, and Whiskey Kitchen), respectively. Workers in the suit brought against Strategic Hospitality restaurants were represented by the law firm Barrett, Johnston, Martin, and Garrison. The workers in the suit brought against the M Street restaurants were represented by Barrett, Johnston Martin, and Garrison and the Yezbak Law Offices.
One of the named plaintiffs on the Strategic Hospitality lawsuit, Hayden Smith, said he believes wage theft and improper tip distribution is more common than most people realize. “The fact these cases closed on the same day just goes to show how common this issue is in our industry,” he said. “Hopefully seeing these victories will help more people come forward and work to de-normalize these behaviors.”
Both of these lawsuits alleged that a portion of tips were withheld from tipped employees to cover business expenses and distributed to non-tipped employees.
“While it’s great that these two settlements have been reached, there are at least two other restaurant wage theft lawsuits currently being litigated, including against my former employer, Anzie Blue,” said Paige McCay, ROC Music City leader. “We encourage restaurant workers across the city to stand up and speak out against wrong-doing in the industry by joining ROC Music City.”
ROC (Restaurant Opportunities Center) Music City is an organization of restaurant workers started in April 2020. We fight to create a food service industry that empowers workers to thrive, not just survive. We provide strategic, legal, and organizational resources for people in the restaurant industry, so that we can all have safe, healthy, and sustainable workplaces and dignity in our jobs.
