Restaurant Employees Accuse One Off Hospitality of Wage Theft
In a new class action lawsuit, hourly restaurant workers employed by One Off Hospitality Group, Ltd. (“One Off”) seek to hold the company accountable for failing to pay wages and overtime for tasks they performed outside their scheduled shifts.
The plaintiffs allege One Off’s unstated employment policy of requiring workers to perform job-related responsibilities before or after clocking out violates the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, and the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act.
The complaint outlines how One Off required employees to perform prep work before clocking in for their scheduled shifts and routinely had workers perform closing duties and other tasks after clocking out. According to the lawsuit, employees weren’t compensated for performing off-the-clock work and were reprimanded when they recorded overtime hours.
Potential Employees and Restaurants Affected by FLSA Violations
Sommers Schwartz filed the class action on behalf of all hourly One Off Employees who were denied wages or overtime pay, including:
- Cooks.
- Dishwashers.
- Barbacks.
- Bartenders.
- Food runners.
- Servers.
- Hourly managers.
- Hosts.
Victims of wage theft may be entitled to compensation for unpaid wages and overtime, which is required to be paid at time-and-a-half.
One Off owns and operates several restaurants in Illinois, including:
- The Publican.
- Publican Quality Meats.
- Big Star.
- The Violet Hour.
- Avec.
- Blackbird Restaurants.
Prestige Restaurant, Inc., and Terroir Restaurant, Inc., were also involved in the management of restaurants that allegedly failed to pay workers for wages earned.
Standing Up Against Wage Theft
Wage theft can take many forms, including requiring workers to perform off-the-clock duties, adjusting employees’ timesheets or reported hours, and failing to pay workers the overtime rate when employees work more than 40 hours per week.
The attorneys in Sommers Schwartz’s Wage and Hour Litigation Group are investigating all allegations of restaurant wage theft in One Off’s establishments. If you worked for any of One Off’s restaurants and were denied your hard-earned wages or overtime, please contact us today to learn more about your legal rights.
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Jesse Young represents clients in serious employment disputes, such as severance negotiations, discrimination, retaliation, whistleblowing activity, employment contracts, terminations, and compliance. In addition, he has appeared in hundreds of wage-and-hour lawsuits and hundreds more arbitrations arising under the Fair Labor Standards Act and similar state laws.