Your "US" Magazine Moment . . .

According to this blog post, Lisa Marie Presley has been sued by her former nanny who claims she was denied rest breaks and overtime pay.

Earl's Restaurant to Pay $500,000 for Illegal Tip Pooling

As discussed here, the Colorado Earl's Restaurants along with one location in Arizona will refund $500,000 to 234 current and former servers who were forced to participate in an illegal tip pool. Apparently, Earl's required servers to share their tips with managers and cooks and also required contributions to a customer walkout fund.

More on the Likely Minimum Wage Decrease

Here is another article discussing the likely decrease in the Colorado state minimum wage.

Casino Dealers Claim Wynn Tip Pool is Illegal

As discussed here, a group of dealers has sued the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas claiming that Wynn illegally required its dealers to share their tips with managers. One interesting issue raised in this lawsuit is whether the Fair Labor Standards Act imposes any requirements on a tip pool when the employer takes no "tip credit" against the minimum wage. The case is based, in part, on a Department of Labor opinion that, for the first time, takes the position that a tip pool can be invalid even if no tip credit is taken.

Servers Win Tip-Pooling Case Against Chili's

As discussed here, a federal jury in Texas has awarded $270,000 to 54 former Chili's servers forced to participate in an illegal tip pool. The lawsuit, filed against Chili's parent corporation Brinker International, alleged that Chili's violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by requiring servers to share their tips with "quality assurance" workers or "expeditors" who had little customer contact. Under the FLSA, workers forced to sue to convince their employers to pay minimum wage are entitled to recover attorney's fees and expenses incurred in fighting the battle. By all accounts, Chili's fought the lawsuit "tooth and nail" and, as a result, the Court is considering whether Chili's should pay over $2 million in legal expenses incurred by the former servers. Moreover, it is likely that Chili's spent much more than that on high-powered defense lawyers in order to fight the servers. Wouldn't it just be easier to pay a living wage?

Colorado Minimum Wage to Decrease in 2010

An article about a decrease (to $7.24/hour) in the Colorado state minimum wage for 2010 is here. For the first time since Amendment 42 passed, the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour will be higher than the Colorado minimum wage.

USDOL Recovers More Than $600,000 for Tipped Employees in Kansas

The Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor, Southwest Region, has recovered more than $600,000 on behalf of 19 employees of a Kansas restaurant. Among other violations, USDOL established that the employees were paid solely in tips, without receiving an hourly minimum wage. An article about the case is here.