Overview Of Simons Restaurant Overtime Class Action Lawsuit And Current Status

About the Class

The lawsuit claims that approximately 50 to 60 past and present Simon’s Restaurant employees, many of whom are Hispanic and speak limited English, have been wrongfully denied wages for hours worked, minimum wage, and overtime wages. The named Plaintiffs represent two different subclasses of employees: (1) servers and (2) dishwashers and busboys. Since the case has been filed, several additional employees/former employees have opted into the class.

Simon’s Restaurant’s Alleged Illegal Practices

ALFREDO JOSE HUERTA, a former server, and Seferino Carillo Gomez, a former dishwasher and busboy at SIMON’S RESTAURANT, located at 2 West Roosevelt Road in Villa Park, Illinois, brought this lawsuit on behalf of themselves and all similarly situated persons under both state and federal wage and hour laws.

For Servers, the Complaint specifically alleges that the Defendants have:

  • Violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., (“FLSA”), by:
    • Paying its servers less than the minimum wage (due to taking out of their servers’ pay a “tip credit” to which they were not entitled);
    • Failing to pay overtime to Plaintiff, Huerta, as well as to all similarly situated servers; and
    • Improperly deducting the cost of meals from Plaintiff Huerta’s, and from all similarly situated servers employed by Defendants, wages.
  • Violated the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, 820 ILCS 105/1 et seq., (“IMWL”) by:
    • Failing to pay overtime to Plaintiff, Huerta, as well as to all similarly situated servers;
    • Paying Plaintiff Huerta and all similarly situated servers employed by Defendants, less than the state minimum wage (because they are not entitled to take the “tip credit” against the minimum wage under the IMWL); and
    • Deducting the cost of meals from Plaintiff Huerta’s and from all similarly situated servers employed by Defendants, wages in violation of the IMWL.
  • Violated the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, 820 ILCS 115/1 et seq., (“IWPCA”) by:
    • Improperly deducting the cost of meals from the wages of Huerta and from all other similarly situated servers.

For dishwashers and busboys, the Complaint specifically alleges that the Defendants have:

  • Violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., (“FLSA”) by:
    • Paying its dishwashers and busboys less than the minimum wage; and
    • Failing to pay overtime to Plaintiff, Gomez, as well as to all similarly situated dishwashers and busboys.
  • Violated the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, 820 ILCS 105/1 et seq., (“IMWL”) by:
    • Failing to pay overtime to Plaintiff, Gomez, as well as to all similarly situated dishwashers and busboys; and
    • Paying Plaintiff Gomez and all similarly situated dishwashers and busboys employed by Defendants, less than the state minimum wage.

Defendants deny that they have been improperly paying their employees in violation of state and federal wage and hour laws.

Where the Case Stands Now

The parties have agreed to stay all proceedings until March _16_, 2012, while they discuss a potential settlement.

What Happens Next?

We know that many former employees are no longer at the address they lived at when they worked for Simon’s Restaurant. We ask that anyone who knows the whereabouts of anyone who worked at Simon’s from September 27, 2008 to the present call our office or have that person call our office so that we can verify current mailing addresses and contact information. In the event of settlement or a judgment, if we cannot find these employees, they will not recover their unpaid wages.