Two former waiters, Samantha Patrick and Jamie Snider, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, filed a class action lawsuit against their former employer Madison Restaurants of Texas Inc. for not paying them the mandated minimum wage rate.
The lawsuit was filed on Feb. 20 in the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division and includes additional defendants Madison's of Dowlen, Bryant D. Maraist and Frank Randazzo.
The defendants are accused of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying the plaintiffs at the mandated minimum wage rate and for allowing or requiring their employees to work in excess of 40 hours per week and not compensating them for the hours at a rate of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay.
The lawsuit states that the defendants would only pay overtime when an employee worked in one position for more than 40 hours in a given week. The employees state they would commonly work overtime but worked it in various positions.
The proposed class will include the defendants entire current and former wait staff who worked for the defendants at any time during the past three years.
On behalf of class members, Patrick and Snider are asking for an award of damages for unpaid overtime compensation, misappropriated tips, liquidated damages, attorney's fees, and court costs.
The plaintiffs are represented by Galvin B. Kennedy of Kennedy Hodges LLP in Houston.
A jury trial is requested.
U.S. District Judge Ron Clark is assigned to the case.
Case No. 1:12-cv-00077