Lawsuit accuses Myrtle Beach City Council of cutting tips and restaurant wages

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - A Myrtle Beach councilman is at the center of a lawsuit over wages and tips paid at his restaurant.

Councilman Mike Chestnut is the owner of Big Mike's Soul Food.

Evangeline Pointer, who worked at Big Mike's restaurant from March 2017 to April 2022, along with "everyone else in the same situation," filed a lawsuit in early August, accusing the restaurant of paying waiters less than she did require of South Carolina. Law. .

The lawsuit alleges the restaurant used an illegal tipping system and tip-pooling system that deprived waiters of tips and wages.

Restaurant policy required employees to put a portion of their tips into the mandatory "tip pool" with helpers, as well as a portion of their tips that also went to supervisors, managers, and/or home," the demands said.

It is also claimed that waiters were expected to perform non-tipped tasks, such as B. cleaning the restaurant thoroughly, but only paid $2.13 and not the required minimum wage of $7.25.

According to court documents, the restaurant would hold mandatory meetings where waiters would only be paid $2.13, although they were not entitled to a tip.

The servers also had to buy their own Big Mike jerseys and visors with their own money, the suit says.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are asking for a jury trial.

They are also seeking damages equal to wages owed under the SCPWA and amounts charged to them to purchase their jerseys and visors.

WMBF News has reached out to Chestnut for comment or explanation on the lawsuit. We are waiting for an answer.

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