On November 28, 2025 Saban Legal Services P.C. filed a class action lawsuit against 40 Trinity Restaurant Group LLC’s restaurant La Padrona alleging misallocation of tips. The basis of the suit is that La Padrona allegedly misallocated tips to employees with managerial responsibilities and back of the house employees. Janelle Nanos at the Boston Globe was nice enough to report on that here:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/02/business/la-padrona-tip-lawsuit
When a restaurant mishandles or withholds tips that are paid out through a tip pool, that is a big problem. Not only are they on the hook for those tips but also for what we call the tip credit. The tip credit is the difference between the normal $15.00 per hour and $6.75 per hour that most restaurant employees are paid. That can really add up!
It is hard not to think that in the wake of SLS suits Contessa and Mecha, and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s big win against Zuma, restaurant employees are spending a little extra time educating themselves. For the longest time restaurant employees were told to stop asking questions because that was just “the industry.” It is really encouraging to see that start to change. If you have questions, ask! Saban Legal Services is always available to have confidential conversations about the work place. After that, it is up to you what to do with that information. But an educated workforce is an empowered workforce!
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