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 ...