Bartenders at the Peak Inn and Adair’s Saloon in Dallas Recoup Nearly $200,000 in Tips | Eater Dallas

"After a two-year U.S. Department of Labor audit, a dive bar in East Dallas was found to have illegally shared bartenders’ tips with non-tipped staff as part of an unlawful tip pool and to have violated federal minimum wage and overtime provisions by not paying cooks the $7.25 minimum or time-and-a-half for overtime. The investigation also found the business failed to combine hours when employees worked both front- and back-of-house and did not keep required records. The Wage and Hour Division said the probe led to a significant recovery of hard-earned wages — part of a $198,000 recovery that works out to roughly $9,900 per affected bartender across about 20 workers. Owner Joe Morales told local media the situation stemmed from a misunderstanding of labor-law changes since COVID and called it a series of unfortunate events." - Courtney E. Smith