Partial Judgment Favors Sports Bar Staffers In Wage Lawsuit

ENFIELD, CT — A popular sports bar and restaurant group with locations in Enfield and Cromwell was recently on the losing end of a partial judgment over wages, according to court records and a report by the Yankee Institute.

The decision was part of a class-action lawsuit filed in 2017 by two former employees of Chicago Sam's. Also named in the suit is the corporate parent of the chain, Penny Corner Pub.

According to the Yankee Institute report, the judgment could be worth "hundreds of thousands of dollars," not including legal fees picked up by Penny Corner.

The Chicago Sam’s suit is one of 15 actions that were filed by the regional Hayber Law Firm between 2015 and 2019 on behalf of restaurant staffers. The suits claim they were underpaid, and cited Connecticut's wage-tip credit laws that allow employees who receive tips to be paid below minimum wage. In the lawsuit, Hayber and the employees claim that Chicago Sam's "violated Connecticut minimum wage laws" by not paying servers on the proper scale for their side work.

The remaining matters in the lawsuit are scheduled to be heard by a jury, according to the Yankee Institute report.

Case records show restaurant owners are claiming they were following the guidelines.

In response, a, 11th-hour bill passed the state legislature that would have rendered the lawsuits redundant, but it was vetoed by Gov. Ned Lamont.

This cases have been filed at Hartford Superior Court in Hartford.

A major contention is,

"Restaurants must pay their service employees the full minimum wage ... for their entire shift if they make those employees do side work and fail to pay the side work at the full service, or tip-credit minimum wage for all hours worked, including side-work ... We allege that this practice violates the law."