News Release
Court orders Evansville diner owner to pay $390K in back wages, damages to 44 employees; stop intimidating workers who cooperate with investigators
EVANSVILLE, IN – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent order and judgment in which an Evansville diner owner and his restaurant will pay $390,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 44 employees to resolve litigation brought after the department’s investigation found the restaurant operated an invalid top pool, denied workers overtime pay and retaliated against employees who cooperated with investigators.
The order by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Aug. 20, 2024, also requires Friendship Diner LLC and owner, Bardhyl Shabani, to pay $10,000 in civil money penalties for the repeated and willful nature of its violations and forbids the employers from all future violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
“The court order should remind all employers that every employee has the right to cooperate with federal investigators or to question their employers’ pay practices without fear of harassment or retaliation,” explained Regional Solicitor Christine Heri in Chicago. “The Department of Labor will continue to hold employers who violate workers’ rights accountable for their wrongful actions and take steps to prevent future violations.”
In addition to the payment of back wages, damages and penalties, the order requires Friendship Diner and Shabani to post and display the court judgment in the restaurant along with contact information for the local Wage and Hour Division office and provide employees with a copy of the Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Shabani must also attend an upcoming Southern Indiana outreach event on wage laws.
On Feb. 28, 2024, the department filed a complaint in federal court seeking back wages and liquidated damages for 44 workers employed by Friendship Diner LLC after the employers failed to resolve the findings of the Wage and Hour Division’s investigation. Specifically, the division determined the following:
- The diner operated an illegal tip-sharing pool by requiring servers to return $10 in tips for each weekday shift and $15 in tips for each weekend shift to management. The employers either kept the tips or used them to pay bussers’ hourly wages. By misusing these tips, the employers invalidated their tip credit.
- Shabani failed to pay overtime at time and one-half the regular rate-of-pay for hours over 40 in a workweek, did not pay workers the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and failed to keep accurate payroll records as required.
“The court order will return these wages to the people who rightfully earned them,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Aaron Loomis in Indianapolis. “Any worker with questions about the wages they’re due should contact the Department of Labor for assistance and clarification.”
On March 6, 2024, the department filed a request for a restraining order and injunction after learning Shabani was harassing and threatening employees in an attempt to coerce them into giving false statements to investigators about the mandatory nature of the diner’s tip pool, an FLSA violation. In response, the court forbid the employers from any form of harassment, intimidation or retaliation against employees on May 13, 2024.
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.
For more information about the FLSA and other laws that prohibit retaliation, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Workers and employers can call the division confidentially with questions, and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages, regardless of where a caller is from. Download the agency’s new Timesheet App, which is available in English and Spanish for Android and Apple devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.
U.S. Department of Labor v. Friendship Diner LLC, Bardhyl Shabani
