Outback Steakhouse Owes Tipped Workers Minimum Wage, Suit Says

Outback Steakhouse of Florida LLC required tipped employees to spend too much time on untipped side work without paying them minimum wage for those tasks, a new suit alleges.

The chain restaurant operator, a Bloomin’ Brands Inc. subsidiary, required tipped workers—who are paid less than the federal minimum wage, with the balance made up through customer tips—to “spend a substantial amount of time performing non-tip producing side work,” according to the complaint filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.

Jeanette Swacker, the worker who sued, spent more than two years as a server at ...