Lance Green and Anderson Khalid v. Perry’s Restaurants Ltd. and Perry’s Steakhouse of Colorado, LLC

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Colorado partially grants and partially denies plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment in an action alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Colorado wage laws. The court holds that factual disputes remain regarding whether Perry’s Restaurants Ltd. was an FLSA employer of non-Colorado plaintiffs. The court also addresses whether the defendants’ tip-pool practices unlawfully included employees working before restaurant opening hours.

Holdings

1. Summary judgment was denied because disputed evidence created a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether PRL was an employer of the non-Colorado plaintiffs.
2. AM Employees were not employees who customarily and regularly received tips as a matter of law, and distributing tip-pool funds to them violated the FLSA and Colorado Wage Laws.
3. The Colorado plaintiffs were entitled to summary judgment that the Colorado location’s failure to notify customers from April 2019 through May 2024 that employees shared tips violated the Colorado Wage Claim Act.

Questions Presented

1. Whether disputed evidence concerning PRL’s control over workers and employment practices precluded summary judgment on whether PRL was an employer under the FLSA and Colorado Wage Laws.
2. Whether AM Employees who substantially worked before the restaurants opened to guests were employees who customarily and regularly received tips and therefore could lawfully receive mandatory tip-pool distributions.
3. Whether the Colorado location violated the Colorado Wage Claim Act by failing to notify customers that gratuities were shared by employees.
4. Whether the existence of full minimum-wage payments independently eliminated liability for failure to provide the Colorado Wage Claim Act tip-sharing notice.

Disposition

other