PHILADELPHIA - A former IHOP server has won $15,000 in a wage case that involved claims the restaurant chain was deducting 45 minutes per shift for breaks that the servers did not take.
The U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted, in part, on Aug. 18 a settlement claim between Sara Giannattasio and Excellent Pancake Inc., the owners of a Wyomissing, PA International House of Pancakes (IHOP) restaurant.
Giannattasio, a former server at the IHOP restaurant, claims that IHOP violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when it "engaged in time shaving” by deducting 45 minutes per shift from servers’ paychecks for breaks that the servers did not actually take." She also claimed in the lawsuit that she was not paid overtime hours that were due.
While U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Leeson, Jr. did rule in favor of the settlement agreement, he did rule that revisions must be made regarding the FLSA portion of the suit. The settlement agreement does not include a confidentiality clause. Leeson wrote in part, "The FLSA was enacted in part to combat “inequalities in bargaining power between employers and employees.Recognizing that the terms of the agreement extended far beyond the claims at issue in the case without any explanation by the parties, the court rejected the release provisions as “inappropriately comprehensive.”
Giannattasio filed suit against IHOP in January. Giannattasio reported her findings to supervisors but received no response on the matter, according to the complaint. She then filed a wage payment and collection complaint with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. She alleged in the lawsuit that in retaliation for this complaint, the"restaurant manager assaulted, verbally abused, and ultimately terminated" her.
Both parties filed for a settlement agreement in July 2018. Under the settlement, Giannattasio will receive $3,036.52 in wages owed, $6,073.03 in liquidated damages for her non-wage claims, and attorneys’ fees of $5,890.56, in exchange for release of IHOP from all claims arising before the agreement, the court documents state.