SCRANTON — A server accuses a local restaurant of unlawfully taking her tips and firing her after she complained.
Katherine Whited filed a complaint on Aug. 21 in the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas against the New Cafe at Greystone Gardens and owner Dominic Saadi, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act.
According to the complaint, the defendants required Whited to pay them 20 percent of her tips. She earns $3 an hour, plus tips, the complaint states. Whited estimates she paid approximately $50 per week to the restaurant. When she complained about the practice, the restaurant fired her, Whited claims.
Whited requests a trial by jury and seeks payment of earned tips and minimum wage, liquidated damages and all other legal and equitable relief. She is represented by Cynthia L. Pollick of The Employment Law Firm in Pittston.
Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas Case number 18-C-4535