North Myrtle Beach restaurant did not pay enough, deducted tips, ex-employees allege
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Two former employees of a North Myrtle Beach restaurant allege in lawsuit that tips were illegally taken from them and that they were not paid proper minimum wages nor overtime wages.
Brittany Causey and Shawn Smith allege in the suit filed Sept. 8 that Local on the Water took a “tip credit” and made them to perform duties that didn’t encourage tips but still paid them $2.13 an hour and not minimum wage.
The suit names AMPD Myrtle LLC, which owns the establishment, and a host of owners and former and current managers as defendants.
A message was left on the restaurant’s answering machine Wednesday afternoon.
The plaintiffs say in the suit they were not given anything but quarters in their drawers, so they couldn’t give customers correct change, which caused the “house”, made up of supervisors and managers, to take some of their tips.
The defendants also made waiters and bartenders pay for customers’ bills if they dined and dashed, while still taking a “tip credit” and paying them $2.13,” the suit states.
Managers were also allowed to work as bartenders and accept tips, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs were also required to work overtime and didn’t receive proper pay required by law.
Causey was employed with the company from May of 2022 to about August. Smith also started in May, but his employment ended in June.
Causey and Smith’s suit is one of many complaints filed by former employees of restaurants in Horry County.
Madison Doll sued Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux for illegally paying less than minimum wage, according to the suit.
Katie Burdick, a former employee at LuLu’s North Myrtle Beach, filed a lawsuit in December alleging violations of the South Carolina Payment of Wages Act, and two similar lawsuits were filed this week on behalf of a total of 14 other former servers and bartenders.