https://ktla.com/news/local-news/pasadena-restaurant-owners-pocketed-employee-tips-dol/amp/

Pasadena restaurant owners pocketed employee tips: DOL

Cameron Kiszla

5 hours ago

(File: Getty)

A Pasadena restaurant has been accused of withholding tips from employees by the United States Department of Labor.

Late last month, the Department of Labor filed a complaint against Entre Nous French Bistro, its parent company 2 Poto Inc. and restaurant owners Jean-Christophe Febbrari and Mathias Wakrat.

According to a news release announcing the complaint, the restaurant operators “knowingly and willfully withheld a portion of employee earned tips and used them to fund business expenses.”

“An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the Pasadena restaurant collected credit card and cash tips from customers, automatically deposited them in the employer’s business account and distributed only a portion of the tips to servers, food runners, waiters, hosts and bartenders through a Zelle wire transfer on a weekly basis,” the release said. “The investigation also revealed the restaurant misclassified several employees as independent contractors and did not keep accurate pay records.”

The restaurant owners could have to pay as much as $500,000: “$250,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for 18 employees,” officials said, adding that they also want an “injunction forbidding Entre Nous French Bistro and owners from future violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.”

“Illegal practices by restaurant employers such as Entre Nous French Bistro in Pasadena hurt employees and also law-abiding employers who face unfair competition due to the stealing of tips by unscrupulous employers,” Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin said in the release. “Customers expect — and the law requires — that tips go to employees, not their employer. We seek to recover the wages owed, enjoin this company from future violations and protect the significant public interest at stake.”

KTLA reached out to the restaurant for comment but has not yet heard back.