SC steakhouse required servers and bartenders to share tips with managers, lawsuit says
Servers at a North Myrtle Beach resort have filed a federal lawsuit, claiming they weren’t paid minimum wage and overtime.
William Fortner and Autumn McManus filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court of South Carolina against 21 Main North Beach LLC and Lovin’ Oven Catering of Suffolk LLC.
The defendants operate North Beach Resort, 719 North Beach Blvd., in North Myrtle Beach, according to the suit.
A message left with both businesses were not immediately returned.
The North Beach Resort offers guests on-site dining options and venue spaces that employs servers and bartenders, the suit says.
The suit involves servers and bartenders who worked at 21 Main Prime Steakhouse; Cabana Club Pool Side Bar & Grill; North Beach Pizza Co.; and 21 Main Events.
Fortner and McManus filed the claims as a collective and class action under the Fair Labor Standards and South Carolina Payment of Wages Act, on behalf of themselves and other bartenders and servers who work or have worked at the resort’s dining venues.
The suit claims that the defendants violated federal and state wage laws because they paid Fortner and McManus and other bartenders and servers sub-minimum wage, failing to provide them with required notice of their intent to rely on tip credit. Servers and bartenders were also required to surrender portions of their tips to pay for cash register shortages and share tips with supervisors or managers and work more than 40 hours without paying them overtime, the suit said.
Fortner, who worked as a bartender at Cabana Club Pool Side Bar & Grill, North Beach Pizza Co. and 21 Main Events from 2018 through May 2023, was terminated in direct response to attempting to address the wage issues with defendants, the suit said.
McManus also worked as a server and bartender at the same venues from September 2021 through September 2023, as well as an assistant manager at 21 Main Prime Steakhouse.
Plaintiffs were paid different hourly wages for overtime, the suit said.
The suit, filed on Oct. 15, 2024, is asking for a jury trial.
