La Tolteca ordered to pay $1.3M to 51 employees

La Tolteca Authentic Mexican Restaurant in Wilkes-Barre and owner Carols De Leon have been ordered to pay $1.3 million in back wages, withheld tips and liquidated damages to 51 employees following an investigation that found the restaurant violated several federal wage regulations, the U.S Department of Labor announced Thursday.

The restaurant, located at 200 Mundy St., violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by requiring servers and bartenders to surrender a percentage of their tips at the end of each shift instead of contributing them to a valid tip pool, the department said.

According to investigators, the employers did not keep records of how the tips were used, which made them unable to prove the restaurant’s tip pool was valid.

“Customer tips for good service are the property of the people who earned them, not their employers,” said Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “Misuse of all or any portion of tips by management violates workers’ rights. This is a common concern in the restaurant industry and the U.S. Department of Labor remains committed to ensuring all workers are paid all of their rightful wages and that businesses do not gain an unfair advantage over competitors that abide by the law.”

The restaurant also failed to pay three non-exempt salaried cooks overtime wages for hours over 40 in a workweek, which is required by law, said the department.

Before entering the consent judgment, the court agreed with these findings in granting the department’s motion for summary judgment.

The consent judgment was entered in the U.S District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania after an investigation conducted by the department’s Wage and Hour Division and lengthy litigation by the department’s Office of the Solicitor, the press release stated.

The judgment requires the restaurant and De Leon to pay the affected workers $651,778 in back wages and restored tips, as well as an equal amount in liquidated damages.

The employer will also pay a $26,443 fine, which the department said was imposed “due to the willful nature of the violations.”

The consent judgment permanently forbids the employers from future violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The Wage and Hour Division’s Wilkes-Barre District Office conducted the investigation and the regional Office of the Solicitor in Philadelphia litigated the case.

The division is currently distributing monies owed to workers covered by the investigation, the department said.

Current and former employees who believe they are owed wages are encouraged to use the division’s Workers Owed Wages online search tool to claim their back wages or to contact the division’s Wilkes-Barre District Office at (570) 826-6316 if they have questions.

A PDF of the full consent judgement can be found at the U.S Department of Labor wesbite.

In addition to the Mundy Street location, La Tolteca also has a location on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre and in Stroudsburg.