Restaurant companies obtain dismissal of purported statewide minimum wage class action by Florida court
Client(s) Landry's Inc.
On December 6, 2013, Jones Day prevailed on behalf of Landry's Inc, and related restaurant companies in Florida on a motion to dismiss a putative state-wide class action brought under Section 24 of the Florida Constitution and the Florida Minimum Wage Act. The complaint, brought by former employees of various restaurants, alleged that voluntary deductions from employees pay impermissibly reduced employees' wages below the minimum wage. In one of the first decisions on the issue, the Court dismissed the complaint without prejudice holding that Plaintiffs failed to comply properly with the statutory pre-suit notice required by the Florida Minimum Wage Act, Section 448.11 0(6)(a), and that the notice must "identify the minimum wage due, the actual or estimated work dates and hours for which payment is sought, and the total amount of unpaid wages through the date of notice." The Court specifically rejected Plaintiffs' arguments that, because they brought suit directly under the Florida Constitution they were not required to comply with the pre-suit notice obligations of the Florida Minimum Wage Act and that their notices for some of the Plaintiffs complied with the Act.
Jeffrey Griffith, et al v Landry’s, Inc., et al, 13-CA-011926 (13th Judicial Circuit Court, FL)
