uRestaurant Group Behind 17 N.J. Houlihan’s Sued For Allegedly Pocketing Workers’ Tips, Not Paying Overtimer

4 4 4 9

• 
  A New Jersey company that operates 17 Houlihan’s restaurants in the state is being sued by the U.S. Department of Labor over claims that bosses were skimming tips from employees, to the tune of $40,000 that should’ve gone into tipped workers’ pockets, but instead were allegedly “unlawfully” distributed to non-tipped employees.

  The lawsuit, which also names the company’s president and part-owner as a defendant, alleges that A.C.E. Restaurant Group required servers and bartenders at Houlihan’s to hand over a percentage of their tips for a tip pool, reports The Record. That pool was then divvied up to pay wages of non-tipped workers, like janitors, kitchen workers and management, in an alleged violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

  In one incident described that happened last year, the lawsuit says employees forked over $2,212 to the pool, but management handed back $1,877 to staff. Another location gave out $2,387 after receiving $2,594 in tips, the complaint claims.

  By May 2014, the suit says the defendants collected more $40,000 in tips that were withheld from its employees from all 17 locations.

  In addition to the allegations of tip skimming, the lawsuit also claims A.C.E. didn’t pay employees for overtime and took the cost of meals out of their paychecks — food they were also charged for. Some employees who were custodians allegedly received below the hourly minimum wage, the lawsuit claims.

  The Department of Labor is seeking reimbursement on behalf of 1,430 employees for unpaid minimum wages, tips and overtime compensation, an equal amount of liquidated damages, and for costs of the suit.

  Saddle Brook company that owns 17 Houlihan’s accused of pocketing employees’ tips [The Record]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uWoman Claims Lucille Roberts Gym Accused Her Of “Trespassing” For Working Out In A Skirtr

4 4 4 9

• 
  Should you be able to wear whatever you want when you exercise? A New York City woman says that employees of the Lucille Roberts gym chain were so upset about her insistence on wearing a skirt while working out that they harassed her and even threatened to call the cops on her.

  This is according to a lawsuit [PDF] filed today in a federal court in New York by an observant Jewish woman who says she was just trying to follow her religion’s guidance on modesty by a skirt over her tights while at the gym.

  In the complaint, the elementary school math teacher notes she became a Lucille Roberts member in 2011 and always wore the skirt while working out. She claims it wasn’t until Oct. 2013 that anyone mentioned a problem with her outfit. The plaintiff was using an elliptical machine when a manager told her she could not wear a skirt.

  In spite of this, she continued to dress as she saw fit and says no one mentioned the skirt again until Oct. 2014 when yet another manager told her the skirt was a no-no.

  When the plaintiff tried to explain her religious motivation for the skirt, the manager suggested she replace it with a long T-shirt. The plaintiff contends that not only would a long, loose-fitting tee not be accordance with the rules of modesty, but that the shirt would be more likely to interfere with equipment than the knee-length skirt in question.

  She never returned to that location but continued to use another Lucille Roberts gym, taking classes and working out in her skirt without incident until June 2015.

  This time, after explaining to yet another manager about the reason for her skirt, the plaintiff says she was told she was “trespassing” at the gym because she refused to wear the proper outfit.

  She says she later confirmed with local police that this would not have been grounds for a trespassing arrest.

  A couple weeks later, she returned to the gym, where a woman at the front desk told her that the skirt was not allowed. The plaintiff continued on to her kickboxing class anyway. The front desk employee later interrupted the class, with the instructor allegedly telling everyone that they could not continue until the plaintiff removed her skirt.

  She claims that as she left the gym that day she was once again told she was trespassing and that “the police are on their way.”

  The lawsuit claims that the Lucille Roberts dress code [PDF] discourages street clothes and dirty sweatpants, but makes no mention of prohibiting skirts. It accuses the fitness chain of religious discrimination in violation of federal, state and city statutes, and seeks unspecified damages, a reinstatement of her membership, and an injunction against practices that discriminate against religious customers.

  [h/t NY Post]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uScottrade Data Breach Leaks Contact Info For 4.6 Million Customersr

4 4 4 9

• 
  If you’re a T-Mobile customer who donated money through Patreon, you’re already having a bad enough day due to massive breaches of user data. Here’s hoping you’re not also one of the 4.6 million Scottrade customers whose contact info was compromised.

  According to KrebsOnSecurity.com, Scottrade has confirmed to customers in an e-mail that hackers may have stolen their contact info, possibly including Social Security numbers. The target of the breach, according to Scottrade, was “client names and street addresses.”

  “Based upon our subsequent internal investigation coupled with information provided by the authorities, we believe a list of client names and street addresses was taken from our system,” reads the e-mail. “Importantly, we have no reason to believe that Scottrade’s trading platforms or any client funds were compromised. All client passwords remained encrypted at all times and we have not seen any indication of fraudulent activity as a result of this incident.”

  The breach is not recent, reports Krebs. Rather it appears to have occurred sometime between late 2013 and early 2014.

  Krebs theorizes that, rather than traditional ID theft, the contact info could have been used to target Scottrade customers in e-mail stock scams.

  The company is offering a year of free credit monitoring to affected customers. As always, anyone whose info is stolen in one of these breaches should keep a close eye on their finances and credit, and report anything out of the ordinary right away.

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uCPSC: 129,000 Dishwashers Recalled Over Power Cords That May Burst Into Flamesr

4 4 4 9

• Because washing dishes shouldn’t result in a fiery inferno, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is recalling 129,000 dishwashers in the U.S., after reports that power cords used for multiple brands can overheat and burst into flame.

  The dishwashers were sold under the labels Bosch, Gaggenau, Kenmore Elite and Thermador according to the CPSC, at a variety of appliance and specialty retailers, department stores, authorized builder distributors, home improvement stores nationwide and online between January 2009 and May 2014 for between $850 and $2600. An additional 45,000 washers sold in Canada are also included in the recall.

  So far, 10 reports of fires have been linked to the dishwashers, causing property damage in five of those blazes — but no injuries have been reported.

  Consumers are advised to stop using the appliances immediately, and call the recall hotline at 888-965-5813 to arrange for a free inspection and repair

  Check the chart below for the brands and model numbers affected — the CPSC also has instructions on how to locate your washer’s serial number if you think it might be included in the recall:

  

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uYesterday Was Walmart’s Goal Date To Significantly Improve Its Storesr

4 4 4 9

• 
  Yesterday marked two soft deadlines for Walmart: the EMV shift at payment terminals and a pre-holiday “line in the sand” that the company’s head of U.S. operations set for the retailer to shape up its stores. That includes making checkout lines shorter and other changes that might seem invisible, but which affect how friendly and easy to use shoppers find their local Wally World. More importantly, he shows up to visit stores unannounced.

  Sure, he’s only stopped by 150 out of more than 4,000 stores this year, but that doesn’t really matter. The important part is that managers know that the bosses could walk through the automatic doors to evaluate their work at any minute.

  Customers’ main complaints have been about dirty stores with empty shelves and long wait times at the checkout. All of these have their roots in under-staffing, which leads to a delicate balance for Walmart stores between deliberately under-staffing stores to save money, and needing to cut costs because that’s how Walmart rolls.

  If workers are happier and compensated better, they’ll work harder, right? That’s the logic behind changes that Walmart has made in the pay scale for new employees, as well as turning the store thermostats up a few degrees and relaxing employee dress codes.

  Wal-Mart Reaches ‘Line in Sand’ Moment in Push to Improve Stores [Bloomberg News]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uTarget Will Be The Second Outside Retailer To Sell Apple Watchr

4 4 4 9

• 
  Apple is spreading around where consumers can buy its Apple Watch, adding Target as the second retailer aside from the brand’s mothership to offer the gadget. Best Buy was the first retailer Apple allowed to sell its newest gadgets, which went on sale in June.

  Target says the Apple Watch will be in some stores this week, and all locations by Oct. 25. For those who prefer shopping online, it’ll be on sale at Target.com starting Oct. 18.

  Just like the deal with Best Buy, shoppers will be limited to a certain assortment of watch styles — so no 18-karat rose gold wrist pieces for $17,000. You’ll have to go straight to Apple for that. There will be 20 models to choose from in both the 38mm and 42mm sizes, including space gray and rose gold colors.

  Select models and bands will be available at all Target stores, with more Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch styles available online, ranging from $349 to $599 in price.

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uGoogle To Officially Become Part Of “Alphabet” Holding Company This Afternoonr

4 4 4 9

• 
  Nearly two months after Google announced its plan to restructure its entire business under a new holding company called “Alphabet,” that transition is minutes away from happening.

  Google confirmed this morning that after the close of trading today, it will complete its “merger” with Alphabet and that the new company’s Class C Capital Stock and Class A Common Stock will begin trading under the Alphabet name on NASDAQ on Monday. The stocks will retain their ticker symbols of GOOG and GOOGL, respectively.

  The brand of “Google” isn’t going anywhere. But instead of being the name for the entire company, it will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet. Products and businesses that are directly related to Internet services and advertising, like YouTube and Android, will remain part of Google.

  What will fall under the wider Alphabet umbrella will be other subsidiaries like the company’s venture capital business, the Nest connected-home products, and its research-oriented operations like Google Life Sciences and Google X.

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Chris Morran via Consumerist