EVANSVILLE, IN – The U.S. Department of Labor has secured a consent order and judgment mandating an Evansville diner owner and his restaurant to pay $390,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 44 employees. This resolution follows litigation prompted by a department investigation that revealed the restaurant operated an invalid tip pool, denied workers overtime pay, and retaliated against employees who cooperated with investigators.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana issued the order on August 20, 2024. Friendship Diner LLC and its owner, Bardhyl Shabani, are also required to pay $10,000 in civil money penalties due to the repeated and willful nature of their violations. Additionally, they are prohibited from committing any future violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
“The court order should remind all employers that every employee has the right to cooperate with federal investigators or to question their employers’ pay practices without fear of harassment or retaliation,” stated Regional Solicitor Christine Heri in Chicago. “The Department of Labor will continue to hold employers who violate workers’ rights accountable for their wrongful actions and take steps to prevent future violations.”
Beyond financial restitution and penalties, the court order mandates Friendship Diner and Shabani to post and display the court judgment in the restaurant along with contact information for the local Wage and Hour Division office. They must also provide employees with a copy of the Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Furthermore, Shabani is required to attend an upcoming Southern Indiana outreach event on wage laws.
On February 28, 2024, the department filed a complaint in federal court seeking back wages and liquidated damages for 44 workers employed by Friendship Diner LLC after employers failed to resolve findings from a Wage and Hour Division investigation. The division determined that:
- The diner operated an illegal tip-sharing pool by requiring servers to return $10 in tips for each weekday shift and $15 in tips for each weekend shift to management. These tips were either kept by management or used to pay bussers' hourly wages.
- Shabani failed to pay overtime at time-and-a-half rates for hours worked over 40 per week, did not pay workers the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, and did not maintain accurate payroll records as required.
“The court order will return these wages to the people who rightfully earned them,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Aaron Loomis in Indianapolis. “Any worker with questions about the wages they’re due should contact the Department of Labor for assistance and clarification.”
On March 6, 2024, after learning that Shabani was harassing employees into giving false statements about mandatory tip pooling—a violation of FLSA—the department filed a request for a restraining order and injunction. On May 13, 2024, the court prohibited employers from any form of harassment or intimidation against employees.
Attorney Haley R. Jenkins from the department’s Regional Office of the Solicitor in Chicago is handling this case.
For more information about Wage and Hour Division resources or if you believe you may be owed back wages collected by the division:
Contact their toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Workers can call confidentially with questions; assistance is available in more than 200 languages regardless of origin.
Download their Timesheet App—available in English and Spanish for Android and Apple devices—to ensure accurate tracking of hours worked.
U.S. Department of Labor v. Friendship Diner LLC, Bardhyl Shabani