Lawrenceville Houlihan's Must Pay For Violations: Authorities

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ — Two companies that operate 17 Houlihan’s franchisee restaurants in New Jersey and New York — including Lawrenceville — and their owner Arnold Runestad will pay $5 million in back wages and liquidated damages to resolve a lawsuit over alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the U.S. Department of Labor announced on Monday.

The agreement to pay 1,471 current and former employees is part of a consent judgment filed on Monday, April 2, and is pending review and approval by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Saddle Brook-based A.C.E. Restaurant Group Inc., A.C.E. Restaurant Group of New York LLC, the individual restaurants, and Runestad were all accused of not paying overtime to employees who worked more than 40 hours a week at multiple restaurants.

They are also accused of breaking the state’s minimum wage law by including ineligible, non-tipped employees in a mandatory tip pool, retaining portions of employees’ tips, and routinely deducting money from employees’ paychecks for meals they also made them pay for.

The consent judgement also requires the companies to comply with the FLSA’s minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping, and anti-retaliation provisions, and provide employees with a notice of their FLSA rights.

The Houlihan’s in Lawrenceville is located in the Mercer Mall on Route 1.

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