By Kevin Gray
MIAMI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - A lawsuit alleging Darden
Restaurants, Inc violated U.S. labor laws by underpaying servers
at its Olive Garden and Red Lobster chains and other eateries
has been expanded to include dozens of new plaintiffs, a lawyer
said on Friday.
The suit, filed in September in federal court in Miami,
accuses one of the largest restaurant operators of failing to
pay federally mandated minimum wages and forcing its waiters and
waitresses to work "off-the-clock" before or after their shifts.
The original lawsuit named two plaintiffs, but now includes
more than 50, said David Lichter of Higer Lichter & Givner, one
of the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs.
"Since we filed the lawsuit, we've had a tidal wave of
inquiries from across the country," he said.
Filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the lawsuit also
claims many employees at Darden's restaurants failed to receive
appropriate overtime wages for work in excess of 40 hours per
week.
A Darden spokesman declined to comment on Friday. In
September, a company official called the accusations "baseless"
and said they "fly in the face of our values and how we operate
our business."
The lawsuit seeks to collectively represent thousands of
current or former employees dating back to August 2009 at
Darden's restaurants that include: Olive Garden, Red Lobster,
LongHorn Steakhouse, Capital Grille, Bahamas Breeze and Seasons
52.
According to its company website, Darden owns and operates
more than 2,000 restaurants and employs 185,000 people.
The case is Mathis et al vs. Darden Restaurants, Inc. et al,
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, No.
12-61742-RSR.
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