May 28, 2009 5:30 pm US/Pacific
Bay Area 'Hooter Girls' Sue Over Tip Dispute
OAKLAND (BCN) ―
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'Hooters' restaurants are known for scantily-clad 'Hooter Girl' waitresses serving chicken wings and beer to a mostly male clientele.
MARTIN OESER/AFP/Getty Images
Eight former Hooters employees filed a class action lawsuit Thursday alleging that four restaurants in the Bay Area violated state wage and hour regulations by diverting tip pool funds, failing to provide required breaks and other actions.
Oakland attorney Burton Boltuch, who represents the plaintiffs, said the suit contains 13 different claims brought as a class action as well as several individual claims of the former employees.
The suit, which was filed in Alameda County Superior Court, is against Hott Wings Inc. of Modesto, which manages Hooters restaurants in Dublin, Fremont, San Francisco and Campbell.
It also names six owners and senior managers at those restaurants as defendants.
Speaking at a news conference at his office, where he was joined by four former Hooters employees who are plaintiffs, Boltuch said, "This is one of the more flagrant violations of California's wage and hour laws that I've seen in my 30 years of practice."
Boltuch said he thinks the most striking allegation in the lawsuit is that owners and managers at the four restaurants concocted "an illegal scheme to convert and steal portions of the tip pools of the waitresses,'' whom he said are called "Hooter Girls."
He said the diverted tip pool money was intended for and legally required to be given to non-supervisory employees who help waitresses, such as busboys, bartenders and waitresses.
But Boltuch said $40 per day per franchise was diverted and given to senior management and owners. Hooters itself called the diverted money a "slush fund," he said.
The suit also alleges that the four restaurants illegally required employees to buy and maintain their uniforms, failed to provide a required 10-minute break ever four hours, failed to provide required meal breaks and failed to pay other wages due.
In addition, the suit alleges that management altered time records and improperly required employees to reimburse the restaurants for cash shortages and the bills of customers who walked out without paying.
Jessica Rose, who used to work at the Hooters in Dublin, said, "We were always having to take money out of our pockets to do our jobs."
Rose, who brought her 2-year-old daughter to the news conference, said, "I'm a working mother and I need every penny I get in tips."
Boltuch emphasized that the suit only names Hott Wings and the four Bay Area restaurants as defendants, not Hooters of America, which is based in Atlanta. He said, "There's no evidence that this is a national policy" by Hooters.
Hott Wings' attorney Matthew Hawkins couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Boltuch said the suit seeks to recover lost wages, tips and benefits and also asks for unspecified punitive damages.
Boltuch said the suit refers to the "titillating" work environment at Hooters, where waitresses are required to wear skimpy outfits, but he said, "We're not attacking that" in the suit or alleging sexual harassment.
"This is a wage and hour case," Boltuch said.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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