Restrepo v. Monte's Trattoria, Ltd.
Case Details
- Nature of Suit — the legal category of the dispute
- 710 Labor: Fair Standards
- Status — whether other courts must follow this ruling
- Unknown
- Procedural Posture — the stage the case had reached
- settlement
- State
- New York
- Circuit
- Second Circuit
Related Laws
No specific laws identified for this ruling.
Claim Types
Outcome
The court preliminarily approved a class action settlement under the FLSA and New York Labor Law. The settlement provides guaranteed compensation to a class of 30 servers, runners, bussers, and bartenders at Monte's Trattoria for wage and hour violations including failure to pay spread-of-hours premiums, improper tip credits, and wage statement violations.
What This Ruling Means
Restrepo v. Monte's Trattoria Settlement Explained
What Happened
Restaurant workers at Monte's Trattoria sued their employer, claiming the restaurant unlawfully withheld wages and failed to provide reasonable accommodations. The dispute centered on improper payment practices, including incorrectly using tips to reduce required wages and not properly compensating workers for their full shift hours.
What the Court Decided
A federal court in New York approved a $500,000 settlement benefiting approximately 30 servers, runners, bussers, and bartenders. The settlement compensates workers for wage violations under federal and New York labor laws. This means all affected employees will receive payment without needing to individually prove their claims.
Why This Matters for Workers
This case demonstrates that restaurant workers have legal protections against wage theft. Even when employers claim tips offset minimum wage requirements or fail to pay for all hours worked, workers can pursue collective action for compensation. The settlement shows courts take these violations seriously and will award significant damages. Workers in similar situations should document their hours and pay records—they may have grounds to recover lost wages.
This summary was generated to explain the ruling in plain English and is not legal advice.
Similar Rulings
Browse Related
Facing something similar at work?
Court rulings like this one are useful, but every situation is different. Take 3 minutes to see which laws may protect you — it's free, private, and no account is required to start.
This ruling information is sourced from public court records via CourtListener.com. Case outcomes, claim types, and summaries are extracted using AI analysis and may be incomplete or inaccurate. It is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
See something wrong, or named in this ruling and want it corrected or redacted? Request a correction.