Guy Fieri’s restaurant broke labor laws on pay, former waiter says in Tennessee lawsuit

A former waiter has accused celebrity restaurateur Guy Fieri’s Downtown Flavortown restaurant in Tennessee of illegal pay practices when it comes to its tipped employees in a new federal lawsuit.

The lawsuit comes months after the sprawling eatery, with more than 300 seats and a bowling alley, opened in March in Pigeon Forge, according to Attractions Magazine. It was filed July 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

The former waiter is suing the operator of Downtown Flavortown, FACE Amusement Group, Inc., for allegedly violating federal labor laws by requiring tipped employees, including himself, to take on non-tipped side work that they were not properly paid for, according to the complaint.

McClatchy News contacted FACE Amusement Group, Inc. for comment on July 21 and was awaiting a response.

The man, who worked at Downtown Flavortown between Feb. 15 and April 1, says that tipped workers were given non-tipped duties — including cleaning bathrooms, cleaning the kitchen, clearing tables, rolling silverware, preparing salads, and more — in the complaint.

These duties “are customarily assigned to ‘back-of-house’ employees in other restaurants, who typically receive at least the full applicable minimum wage rate,” according to the lawsuit.

The former waiter accuses Downtown Flavortown of paying tipped workers for these tasks “at or below the reduced tip credit minimum wage rate” in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and that the restaurant’s operator was aware, the complaint says.

Under federal law, employers are allowed to pay tipped employees $2.13 per hour, below minimum wage, as long as the amount they receive in tips equals the federal minimum wage rate when combined, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The minimum wage in Tennessee is $7.25 per hour.

Downtown Flavortown is accused of having its tipped workers spend more than 20% of their daily shifts doing non-tipped side work, the complaint says.

The lawsuit asserts that because of this, the former waiter and other employees should have been paid at or above minimum wage when performing such responsibilities at Downtown Flavortown.

“(FACE Amusement Group, Inc.) did not pay all compensation due to its employees,” the complaint says.

The former waiter is seeking to recover an unspecified amount of unpaid wages owed to himself, current and former tipped employees, according to the complaint. He is also demanding a jury trial.

He and others “have suffered damages by being denied minimum wages in accordance with the FLSA in amounts to be determined at trial, and are entitled to recovery of such amounts, liquidated damages, post-judgment interest, attorney’s fees, costs, and all other damages permitted under the FLSA,” the complaint says.

Fieri, a chef known for hosting television shows on Food Network such as “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” has licensed his name to several Flavortown restaurants in the U.S.

Pigeon Forge is roughly 215 miles east of Nashville.

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