Who is a Class Member
Class members in the Primanti Bros Tipped Employees FLSA Class Action Settlement include “all employees of any Primanti Bros. Restaurant in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Maryland, and/or Michigan paid on a tipped basis at any time between September 9, 2013 and December 31, 2016 who worked as a bartender, server, and/or food runner where defendants paid such individual less than $7.25 per hour.”
If you don’t qualify for this settlement, check out our database of other class action settlements you may be eligible for.
Settlement Amount
- $2,100,000.00
Estimated Award
- Varies
Each Class member who submits a valid and timely claim form is expected to receive approximately 12.4% of their total wages owed during the Class Period. For example, if a Class member was owed $1,000.00 in back wages, they would receive $124.00 under the terms of the proposed settlement. The actual amount will vary since each employee’s hours worked and tip credit differs and will also depend on the number of claim forms received.
Proof of Purchase
- N/A
Claim Form
Primanti Bros Tipped Employees FLSA Settlement Notes
- Koenig, et al. v. Primanti Corporation d/b/a Primanti Bros., et al.
- Case No. 2:16-cv-01402
- Pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
In September 2016, plaintiff Chelsea Koenig brought this collective class action lawsuit against Primanti Bros restaurants, claiming she and other “tipped employees” such as bartenders, servers, barbacks, bussers, and food runners, were deprived of wages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA.
Under the FLSA, all employees are entitled to be paid minimum wage for all hours worked. However, according to Koenig, a former bartender for Primanti Bros, the restaurant chain instituted a tip credit system rather than pay its tipped employees applicable minimum wage. While, in certain circumstances, an employer can take a tip credit and pay its employees less then the mandated minimum wage, the employee’s tips received from customers plus the tip credit wage paid by the employer needs to equal at least minimum wage.
Primanti Bros owns and operates 23 full service restaurants locations in Pennsylvania and 14 across Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Maryland, and Michigan. The company denies any wrongdoing and maintains that they paid their tipped employees properly and that they provided proper notice of the tip credit.
Complete details about the case and settlement are provided on the Primanti Bros Tipped Employees FLSA Settlement website.
The Primanti Bros Tipped Employees FLSA class action settlement was granted preliminary approval on January 17, 2018. Class members who wish to exclude themselves or object to the settlement must do so by April 16, 2018. Class members who wish to participate in the settlement must submit their claim form on or before April 16, 2018.
Important Dates
- 4/16/18: Claim Form Deadline
- 4/16/18: Objection or Exclusion Deadline
- 4/23/18: Final Hearing at 9:00 am ET* (class members do not need to attend this hearing in order to receive a slice of the settlement pie).
*Settlement Class Members who wish to speak at the hearing should check www.StrategicClaims.net/Primanti to confirm that the date or time of the Hearing has not been changed.
Contact Information
- Mail: Koenig v. Primanti Corporation, c/o Strategic Claims Services, 600 N. Jackson Street, Suite 205, Media, PA 19063
- Phone: 1-866-274-4004
- Fax: 1-610-565-7985
- Email: info@StrategicClaims.net
Class Counsel
- Gerald D. Wells III of Connolly Wells & Gray LLP
Settlement Website
What happens if we didn’t know anything about this until now, and worked there and deserve to receive part of that settlement?