Victory in the Courts! Tipped employees raise to $3.25 confirmed back to Jan. 1, 2007!
St. Louis Area Jobs with Justice Launches Statewide “Save our Tips” Hotline to Help Workers Receive Wages Due
On May 24, 2007, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Patricia Joyce rejected the restaurant industry’s attempt to reach into workers’ pockets, saying that the “plain language” of the law “requires employers to pay tipped employees at least $3.25 per hour” and further, that “this obligation has been effective since January 1, 2007.” The court’s ruling dismissed a lawsuit backed by the Missouri restaurant industry seeking to exempt tipped workers from the minimum wage increase that was overwhelmingly passed by Missouri voters in November.
After this victorious court ruling, St. Louis Area Jobs with Justice is ramping up its campaign to help workers affected by the court’s ruling get wages they are due. “The court agreed that tipped workers are covered by the law, and can’t have their raise taken from them, and Jobs with Justice wants to ensure these workers get both raises and back pay,” said Rev. Dr. Martin Rafanan, co-chair of the St. Louis Area Jobs with Justice Workers’ Rights Board.
JwJ has a toll-free hotline and urges tipped workers to call if they have not received a wage increase or if their increase was not retroactive to January 1, 2007. Affected workers and others interested in the issue can call the “Save our Tips” Hotline toll-free at: 1-877-644-0466, or visit www.STL-JWJ.org/sot .
Special thanks to members of the legal community who stood by tipped workers and assisted in this case. Attorneys Art Martin and Chris Grant from Schuchat Cook & Werner were joined by Raj Nayak and Paul Sonn from the Brennan Center for Justice, John Amman from St. Louis University School of Law, and Denise Lieberman from the Stetin Center for Law & Social Change in filing a friend of the court brief on JwJ’s behalf. The case is G.R. Restaurant, Inc. and J.J. Group, Inv., v. Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, No. 07AC-CC00276.
