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The restaurants, including five Fairfield County establishments and one in New Haven County, were ordered to pay back wages, withheld tips, and liquidated damages to 105 employees following an investigation and litigation conducted by the US Department of Labor, which announced the order on Tuesday, July 25.
The six restaurants included in the case are:
- Scena Wine Bar and Restaurant, located in Darien at 1077 Post Rd.;
- 55 Wine Bar, located in Fairfield at 55 Miller St.;
- Sundown, located in Greenwich at 403 Greenwich Ave.;
- Cava Wine Bar and Restaurant, located in New Canaan at 2 Forest St.;
- Harvest Wine Bar and Restaurant, located in New Haven at 1104 Chapel St.;
- Harvest Wine Bar and Restaurant Westport, located at 36 Railroad Pl.
The order follows a first award to employees in November 2022, when the US District Court for the District of Connecticut granted the US Secretary of Labor's motion for partial summary judgment in its entirety and concluded that the employers had violated overtime and recordkeeping provisions allowed by the Fair Labor Standards Act.
This led to the court first awarding a total of $251,129 in back wages for overtime violations to employees. Employers were also held liable for liquidated damages and were forbidden from violating the act's overtime and recordkeeping provisions again.
After the partial summary judgment, the labor department and employers then entered into a consent judgment, which was entered by the court in February 2023.
This required employers to pay additional back wages, withheld tips, and liquidated damages owed for all remaining claims, also including those for minimum wage, tip pool, and other overtime violations, federal officials said.
Ultimately, the restaurants were ordered to pay a total of $858,191 to employees.
Hartford Wage and Hour Division District Director Donald Epifano said the employers' pay practices "deprived workers of the full, hard-earned wages and tips on which they depend to help them support themselves and their families."
“While these types of violations are common in the restaurant industry, unfortunately, they can be prevented with knowledge and compliance with the law," Epifano added.
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