We successfully defended a national restaurant chain in a case alleging wage and hour violations. In the original case the Plaintiff alleged that our client’s imposition of a tip credit resulted in him receiving less than minimum wage because he spent more than 20% of his shift performing non-tipped labor. The District Court granted our Motion to Dismiss, finding that the Plaintiff’s Complaint failed to state a minimum wage claim under the FLSA because the rule cited, and contained in the DOL’s informal guidance, should not be afforded deference. Additionally, the Plaintiff failed to allege that his total combined weekly wages and tips were below the minimum wage. The Plaintiff appealed and the Ninth Circuit consolidated the case with eight related cases filed by the same Plaintiffs’ counsel against other restaurants. The Ninth Circuit upheld the lower court’s opinion, ruling in favor of our client and the other restaurants.