A lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges that the Glazier Group’s renowned Strip House New York violated federal and state labor laws by misappropriating employee tips and withholding minimum wages and overtime compensation, according to Outten & Golden LLP and Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP.
The suit, which alleges violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York State Labor Law, was filed on behalf of Ian Matheson, a resident of New York who was employed as a tipped hourly service worker at Strip House from approximately March 2007 through November 2008.

The “wage-and-hour” lawsuit seeks to recover minimum wages, overtime compensation, and misappropriated tips for Mr. Matheson and other workers such as servers, bussers, bartenders and other hourly employees at Strip House New York.

Justin M. Swartz, Linda A. Neilan, and Lauren E. Schwartzreich, of Outten & Golden LLP’s New York office, and Joseph A. Fitapelli and Brian S. Schaffer, of Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, of New York, represent Mr. Matheson, and will seek to have the lawsuit certified as a class action that covers current and former Strip House workers who elect to opt into the case.

Attorney Justin M. Swartz stated, “Strip House’s success, and the success of The Glazier Group comes at the expense of their hourly service workers. These workers have been denied proper minimum wages, overtime compensation, customer gratuities, and reimbursement for uniform expenses and other earned wages.”

Attorney Brian S. Schaffer stated, “Many restaurants fail to pay hourly service workers proper minimum wage and overtime. These restaurants also unlawfully retain portions of tips that service workers earn. They redistribute the money to employees in management and to other positions that are not entitled to receive tips.”

The defendants are the Glazier Group, Inc.; T-Bone Restaurant, LLC (also known as Strip House New York); Peter H. Glazier; Penny Glazier; and Mathew Glazier.

The Glazier Group owns and operates seven Strip House steak restaurants located in New York City; Livingston, New Jersey; Las Vegas, Nevada; Key West, Florida; Naples, Florida; Houston, Texas; and El Conquistador, Puerto Rico. The Glazier Group also owns and operates Michael Jordan’s The Steak House N.Y.C., as well as Bridgewaters, Bridgewaters To Go, Monkey Bar, and Twenty Four Fifth.

The case is “Ian Matheson, et al. v. The Glazier Group, Inc.; T-Bone Restaurant, LLC a/k/a Strip House New York; Peter H. Glazier; Penny Glazier; and Mathew Glazier,” (U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, Case No. 09-cv-4214).

Fitapelli & Schaffer has just filed a lawsuit on behalf of a woman who was fired and subjected to discrimination because she was a victim of domestic violence. The case was filed in Supreme Court New York County against Nordstrom, one of the largest department stores in the country and Just Jeffrey, a specialty retailer in New York City.