Lonesome Dove Western Bistro
Case Information:
This is a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) case involving servers at Lonesome Dove Western Bistro’s Austin, Fort Worth, and Knoxville, Tennessee locations. The lawsuit claims that Lonesome Dove improperly required its servers (1) share their tips with management, including the Sommelier/Wine Steward, VP of Sales, and Private Dining Coordinator; (2) pay out of their own pocket for customer orders that were not rung up; and (3) purchase mandatory uniforms from Lonesome Dove.
The lawsuit alleges that these violations prevent Lonesome Dove from taking the “tip credit” of $5.12 per hour worked for each of the affected servers and therefore seeks payment of $5.12 per hour for all hours worked in weeks when these violations occurred, and seeks double this amount in “liquidated damages.” The lawsuit also requests repayment of all tips that were improperly required to be shared with management. Finally, the lawsuit requests injunctive relief and attorneys’ fees.
Click here to read the Complaint in this case.
Class members who wish to join the suit may do so by visiting LDWBLawsuit.com. All opt-in forms must be returned by February 14, 2019.
Status Updates
December 31, 2018
On December 31, 2018, we mailed out Notices to the class members. Class members who wish to join the suit may do so by visiting LDWBLawsuit.com. All opt-in forms must be returned by February 14, 2019.
December 10, 2018 - Court Orders Notice to Class Members
On December 10, 2018, the Court approved notice to Class Members. You can view the Order here. Notice will go out via U.S. Mail and text message. The mailed notice can be viewed here. The text message notice can be viewed here. For any individuals for whom Lonesome Dove has not provided a phone number, notice will go out via e-mail. For any individuals for whom Lonesome Dove has not provided either a phone number or an e-mail address, notice will go out via Facebook and/or LinkedIn.
Class members may learn more about the lawsuit and sign the paperwork necessary to join by visiting LDWBLawsuit.com.
The opt-in period closes February 14, 2019.
November 17, 2018 - Court Conditionally Certifies Class
On December 11, 2018, the Court conditionally certified a class of all individuals who worked as servers for Lonesome Dove in the Austin and Knoxville restaurants from October 23, 2015 until October 23, 2018. You can read the Order here.
July 31, 2018 – Plaintiffs File Reply in Support of Motion for Conditional Class Certification
Today we filed our reply in support of conditional class certification. In our reply, we point out that Lonesome Dove does not dispute that class certification of servers in Austin, Texas is proper and does not dispute that the same alleged FLSA violations occurred across all three locations. We also point out that many of Lonesome Dove’s arguments opposing conditional certification have been rejected by other federal district courts.
May 7, 2018 – Motion for Conditional Class Certification Filed
On May 7, 2018, we filed a motion for conditional class certification and for judicially supervised notice. In the motion, which you can read here, we asked the court to certify a class of servers across all of Lonesome Dove’s three nationwide locations. Plaintiffs also requested that the Court authorize Plaintiffs’ counsel to notify all potential class members of this lawsuit and of their ability to join the lawsuit.
