Lubbock Seafood Restaurant Cited for Not Paying Proper Wages

A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found that the owner of Lubbock's Red Lobster restaurant failed to pay proper wages to over 100 current and former servers as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Darden Restaurants, Inc., the owner and operator of Lubbock's Red Lobster, will pay back wages and civil penalties to the government.  $27,427 will be paid by Darden Restaurants in back wages to a total of 109 current and former servers.  The company also has been assessed $23,980 in civil money penalties.

“Workers deserve full and fair compensation for all hours of work, from the beginning to the end of their scheduled shifts,” said Cynthia Watson, regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in the Southwest. “The penalty assessment in this case demonstrates that we will vigorously address bad practices in the restaurant industry with every available enforcement tool.”

Investigators from the division’s Albuquerque District Office determined that workers were allowed to clock in once customers were seated, instead of at the start of their scheduled work shifts as required under the FLSA. This practice resulted in shorter hours and compensation that fell below the federal minimum wage, violating the FLSA’s minimum wage and record-keeping provisions.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the civil money penalty is the second assessed to Orlando, Florida-based Darden Restaurants recently.  In March, a civil money penalty of $30,800 was assessed for FLSA violations at a Mesquite, Texas, Olive Garden restaurant owned by Darden Restaurants. The company has agreed to maintain future compliance with the law.

Also, the same problems uncovered at the Red Lobster in Lubbock also were exposed during an investigation of the Olive Garden in Mesquite by the division’s Dallas District Office.  In that case, in addition to the civil money penalty, 140 employees were found to be owed $25,570 in back pay for minimum wage violations.