NEW ORLEANS -Renowned for its food and restaurant options, New Orleans’ economy depends on the city’s service workers, including 359 people employed by five restaurants that, U.S. Department of Labor investigators found, made illegal wage deductions and paid them less than minimum wage.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Bobby Hebert’s Cajun Cannon, the Hideout Bar, Mambo’s Oceana Grill, and the Olde NOLA Cookery deducted the cost of uniforms, order errors, liquor shortages, customer walk-outs and customer credit card disputes from employees’ wages in violation of federal regulations.
The investigation recovered $109,154, including $54,577 in back wages and an equal amount in damages – for the tipped servers and bartenders. The investigations are part of an ongoing enforcement initiative by the division to identify violations in the restaurant industry and recover back wages. If warranted, the division will recover damages and assess civil money penalties.
“Many restaurant and hospitality workers depend on their wages and tips to support their families,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans. “Employers who make deductions to cover business expenses often reduce wages paid to the workers below the federal minimum wage, causing workers financial hardship and creating costly consequences for employers.”
The restaurants are owned and operated by a father and son and registered under the following company names: Cajun Conti LLC, Cajun Bourbon LLC, Cajun House LLC, Cajun Vets LLC and Cajun 417 LLC.
In fiscal year 2023, the division recovered more than $29.6 million in back wages for nearly 26,000 food service workers and assessed more than $6.1 million in penalties.