Tipped Workers Winning Wage Suits as Courts Scrap Trump Guidance

Restaurant chains have lost at least seven decisions over the last year in which federal district court judges refused to give deference to a 2018 Labor Department opinion letter advising restaurants to pay a lower minimum wage to tipped workers for tasks that don’t yield gratuities.

In most of those decisions, judges held that DOL wasn’t justified in turning its back on a standard that’s been in place for more than three decades. But the tables could soon turn in management’s favor as the Trump administration works to complete a rulemaking to codify its informal guidance.

Attorneys for restaurant workers ...