Former employees file motion in lawsuit against State College restaurant

A back-and-forth court battle between a State College restaurant and its former employees has continued in federal court with a motion Wednesday to dismiss the eatery’s counterclaims.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in May by five former delivery drivers — Jacob Wilson, Ty Carts, Lewis Grove, Colin Krieger and Branden Ronald — against Wings Over Happy Valley and alleged owner Steven C. Moreira. The claim seeks overtime and relief under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act and Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law due to an alleged tipping pool that was “illegitimate, unlawful and unapproved.”

In a defendant’s answer to the complaint, filed in July with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Moriera and the restaurant denied any unlawful tip-pooling practices, specifically denying that Moriera individually owns or operates the restaurant. The counterclaim also said that the restaurant’s tipping pool was voluntary.

Wednesday’s motion filed by the plaintiffs detailed why the defendant’s counterclaims should be tossed by the court.

The plaintiff’s retort claims that the defendant’s were obligated to allow delivery drivers to retain all of their tips instead of operating a tipping pool. The motion also claims that the pool required 8 percent of tips to be “tipped out” to kitchen workers and that the defendants have failed to answer how the pool was voluntary and why the delivery drivers were compelled to participate.

Wings Over Happy Valley also alleged in its counterclaim that Wilson was a supervisor and delivery driver who the eatery said failed to clock in and out properly. The restaurant’s counterclaim included allegations of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, intentional misrepresentation and breach of the duty of loyalty against Wilson, who the eatery seeks punitive and compensatory damages against.

Wilson, according to the motion, has decided he no longer wants to be involved in the lawsuit. Therefore, the filing said, the defendant’s counterclaims are invalid due to a motion to remove Wilson from the suit.

The court has not yet ruled on the plaintiff’s motion to dismiss the defendant’s counterclaims.

The suit covers all delivery drivers employed by the restaurant over the past three years, court documents said, which could cover up to 50 individuals.

This story was originally published August 15, 2017 at 12:36 AM with the headline "Former employees file motion in lawsuit against State College restaurant."