Local News
Plaintiffs say at least $51,000 worth of tips were withheld from staff at La Padrona, a Back Bay Italian spot that received a Michelin recommendation last month.
A Back Bay restaurant, which recently celebrated a Michelin nod, is facing a class action lawsuit from one of its bartenders and two servers who claim the restaurant shorts the tip pool and pays tips out to ineligible employees, including managers and dishwashers.
La Padrona, an Italian restaurant which opened last year with chef and Jody Adams at the helm, earned a recommendation from Michelin for its inaugural year in Boston and has previously been recognized by The New York Times.
On the heels of the Michelin recommendation, however, Kelsey MacKinnon, Clara Herman, and Nadia Agourram filed the lawsuit against the restaurant’s leadership as part of 40 Trinity Place Restaurant Group LLC. Adams, identified as co-owner Josephine Adams in the lawsuit, co-owner and manager Jonathan Mendez, and CEO Eric Papachristos, identified as Iraklis, are named as defendants.
The lawsuit alleges that the restaurant withheld at least $51,000 in unpaid wages, according to the civil action suit filed in Suffolk Superior Court.
In a statement to Boston.com, Adams said Tuesday that the restaurant is in the discovery process of the lawsuit.
“Leadership at La Padrona noted that the company first received the lawsuit late on Monday and is currently reviewing the details,” the statement said. “They emphasized that the team remains committed to its staff and to fostering a fair, professional workplace.”
Lawsuit: Tip pool is shorted, managers and bussers are tipped illegally
According to the Massachusetts Tips Act, both individual tips and pooled tips must be paid out to wait staff, service, and service bartender employees. To receive tips, staff and service employees cannot have managerial responsibilities, per the law.
Tip pooling was partly a target of the fifth ballot question last year. The question, which would’ve raised the tipped minimum wage from $6.75 to $15, would also allow the tip pool to include non-tipped workers like kitchen staff. The petition overwhelmingly failed.
At La Padrona, the three employees allege, managerial employees called “captains” were included in the tip pool, including Herman. Captains, while serving food and beverages, were seen as “extensions of management” and trained employees.
The trio spoke to The Boston Globe about the lawsuit, claiming they raised concerns about the wide tip pool. Herman alleged that she questioned whether or not she should be tipped in the role of captain, but “it kept getting brushed off.”
Bussers, a misnomer as they do not bus tables, are back-of-house employees who polish glasses and silverware for front use, the lawsuit said. While they don’t interact with customers and rarely leave the kitchen, they are also included in the tip pool.
“Everyone deserves a living wage, but I shouldn’t have to be the one procuring that wage for those polishers,” said MacKinnon, per the Globe. “We want what we worked for, and we want it to be fair.”
The lawsuit further alleged that LaPadrona also does not distribute all of the tips from customers to wait staff, but instead “shorts the tip pool.”
“It feels like we’re being taken advantage of,” Herman told the Globe.
Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
