Benton restaurant Tim’s Tavern hit with federal injunction over accused labor violations

BENTON, Ark. – A Benton restaurant has been hit with a preliminary injunction by the United States Department of Labor over allegations of failure to pay wages and illegally employing children.

In a release, Labor Department officials claimed Tim’s Tavern owner Tim Steppach had violated a number of federal regulations concerning paying minimum and overtime wages, taking workers’ tips, underage employment and retaliation against workers for reporting to authorities.

Officials claim that a February investigation by the agency’s Wage and Hour Division found Steppach was allowing several employees who were 14 and 15 years old to be working outside the legally permitted hours for school nights and weekends.

Federal investigators also claimed that their findings showed Steppach had been in violations of the Fair Labors Standards Act (FLSA) going back to August of 2022, accusing the business owner of failing to provide regular paychecks, not paying minimum wage, overtime wages & tips and neglecting to keep records.

Southwest Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Betty Campbell said that following the investigation, the Labor Department plans to hold Steppach “fully accountable” for his alleged violations.

“Our investigation identified numerous violations by Tim’s Tavern and Tim Steppach, and we are using every enforcement tool available to protect their employees and to hold this employer fully accountable,” Campbell pledged.

Under the injunction granted by the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Arkansas Central Division, Steppach and the restaurant are prohibited from:

• Threatening, intimidating, discriminating against, harming, or otherwise retaliating against the retaliation victim or other current and former employees for exercising their rights under the FLSA including cooperating with and reporting alleged violations to the department.
• Contacting the retaliation victim directly.
• Violating the child labor protections of the FLSA.

Labor officials added that they have filed a complaint seeking full relief for the alleged violations, including paying any unpaid minimum wages, overtime pay and tips, as well as an equal amount in liquidated damages.

This is the latest challenge against the Benton business owner. In January of this year, Steppach was arrested and faced charges of sexual assault, with accusations coming from underage employees of the restaurant, which closed for a short time.

The restaurant owner was arrested again in late February following further developments in the investigation, with new charges leveled against him including rape, false imprisonment and burglary.

Officials with the Benton Police Department said the investigations into the early-year allegations against Steppach are continuing to proceed. Steppach has gone online to maintain his innocence in connection to those allegations.

KARK 4 News has reached out to Tim Steppach regarding the news of the injunction, but as of publishing there has been no response.

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