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A former employee of the Tutti Frutti yogurt shop in the Holyoke Mall said the owners, TF Holyoke LLC, fired them after they complained about withheld tips to the US Department of Labor.
TF Holyoke admitted to taking some of their employees' tips to pay business expenses, the labor department said. It's illegal for owners and managers to take part in tip pools.
How much they took is unclear, as the labor department said they failed to keep adequate records.
The restaurant has agreed to a settlement with the federal regulators to pay $6,438 in back wages and an equal amount in damages to 19 former employees. They must also pay the employee who was fired after speaking out $10,000 in damages, $1,978 in money lost while looking for a new job, and $1,064 in civil penalties for tip violations, the Department of Labor said in a news release.
“Retaliation against an employee who asserts their Fair Labor Standards Act rights is against the law, and the Wage and Hour Division will pursue appropriate remedies for employees,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Carlos Matos in Boston. “In this case, an employee received $10,000 in punitive damages for being terminated after inquiring about how and when tips would be distributed. In total, this employer paid $24,854 for tip and anti-retaliation violations of the FLSA.”
The owners of the Holyoke store also own Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt shops in Hadley and New Hampshire.
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