The U.S. Department of Labor recovered $45K in back wages and damages for 11 servers at Luxe Bar & Grill, a restaurant and bar in southern Michigan.
TROY, MI (STL.News) The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released the following information about Lux Bar & Grill in Troy, Michigan, and the action the DOL took against the restaurant and its owners for labor violations.
Employers: Old Woodward Ventures LLC, operating as Luxe Bar & Grill – Kara Bongiovanni – Grand Lux Café, Troy, Michigan
Court Action: Consent judgment and order
Court: U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division
Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered $45,428 ? representing $22,714 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages ? for 11 servers employed by Kara Bongiovanni and Old Woodward Ventures LLC, operators of Luxe Bar & Grill in Troy. Luxe Bar & Grill and Bongiovanni will also pay $4,570 in civil money penalties for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and recordkeeping provisions.
Under terms of a consent order and judgment entered on August 8, 2024, by U.S. District Judge George Carem Steeh, the restaurant, Lux Bar & Grill, and owner Kara Bongiovanni must in the future provide relevant FLSA fact sheets to employees and not violate the FLSA.
Investigators found Luxe Bar & Grill and Bongiovanni paid servers straight time for overtime “off the books” in cash and did not maintain accurate payroll records.
In addition to paying the back wages, liquidated damages, and civil money penalties, Luxe Bar & Grill and Bongiovanni agreed to maintain an electronic time and recordkeeping system and maintain accurate payroll records.
Quotes: “When employers knowingly shortchange workers of their rightfully earned wages, such as overtime, they literally take money out of the pockets of their employees,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Timolin Mitchell in Detroit. “Luxe Bar & Grill’s practice of recording the hours and paying them off the books demonstrated they knew the law and chose to ignore it.”
“Employers should know that the department will use all available tools to ensure compliance with the FLSA,” added Regional Solicitor Christine Heri in Chicago. “When employers pay their workers less than the required wage, they will be held accountable—even if they try to hide it by making those payments off the record.”
Background: Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-487-9243, regardless of where they are from.
Editor Comment: We do not publish the information to embarrass the employer but to help educate other restaurant and business owners that these violations are serious and expensive. Employees do have rights, and if an unhappy employee complains, there are agencies that they can turn to without hiring an attorney who will protect their rights. There are times when employers don’t know the laws, but in most cases, they do and take action out of greed. Remember that, as an employer, you have a fiduciary responsibility to your employees.
We encourage anyone who knows of such violations to report them to the proper authorities. This will help protect people from predatorial employers who violate rules, laws, and human rights in their own self-interest.
