The owner of Roosters restaurants at Polaris, in New Albany and nine other locations from Xenia to Zanesville will pay $505,000 to settle claims that it illegally paid employees less than the minimum wage for work that didn’t involve serving customers.
U.S. District Judge Walter H. Rice approved the settlement in December between a former Roosters employee and Chillicothe-based franchise owner We Be Wings. It involves about 1,800 current and former employees at 11 Roosters restaurants, according to court documents.
Haylee Caudill, who worked at a Roosters in Xenia from August 2019 to November 2021, sued We Be Wings in March 2023, claiming she and other employees were paid Ohio’s subminimum wage even at times federal and state law required a higher hourly rate.
As of Jan. 1, Ohio’s minimum wage is $10.45 per hour, but employers are permitted to pay tipped workers – servers and bartenders, in Caudill’s case – a subminimum wage or $5.25 hourly.
They must pay tipped employees the minimum wage, though, for tasks that are unrelated to the work that brings in tips, such as cleaning restrooms or wiping counters. The subminimum wage is allowable for tasks related to tipped work, such as refilling ketchup bottles or setting tables, as long as those chores don’t surpass 20 percent of a person’s time on the job.