Controversial advocacy group takes legal aim at Darden
Feb 06, 2012 (Menafn - The Orlando Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --After suing and winning settlements from smaller eatery owners, a scrappy, controversial group that advocates restaurant workers' rights now has the world's largest casual-dining company in its cross hairs.
Restaurant Opportunities Centers last week filed a federal lawsuit against Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, accusing its upscale Capital Grille chain in three cities of discrimination and violating wage laws. The New York-based group also is staging protests outside those restaurants in Chicago, New York and the Washington area.
Darden has called the group's claims baseless, saying it follows federal and state laws and has a culture that embraces diversity.
Whatever the outcome, ROC's lawsuit against Darden will be watched especially closely, said H.G. Parsa, a professor at the University of Central Florida's hospitality school. Other big companies could change their policies depending on what happens in the lawsuit, he said.
"This is a test for the whole restaurant industry," he said. "Darden is ... a guinea pig."
ROC won't say how much money it is seeking for the more than two dozen workers it represents. But such cases "can be pretty severe from a financial perspective," said Stephen Barth, professor of law and leadership at the University of Houston's hospitality college.
ROC is seeking to make the suit a class action, meaning employees across the country could be entitled to back wages plus interest, along with unspecified damages.
ROC's contention that minorities at Capital Grille are placed in less-desirable jobs will be difficult to prove, restaurant-industry experts said. Darden, which has a black CEO, has been lauded for years for its commitment to workplace diversity, it points out.
"Darden's probably got the best reputation for diversity ... in the industry," said Rick Van Warner, a former spokesman for the company who now runs an Orlando-based consulting firm.
More tricky for Darden could be the wage-violation accusations that make up the bulk of the lawsuit. The lawsuit says employees had to perform some work off the clock and takes issue with policies regarding tipped workers. Among the allegations: Servers, who earn less than minimum wage in many states, had to share tips with dishwashers and employees who polish silver.
Such cases, particularly regarding tip-sharing and servers doing nontipped work, often have landed big restaurant companies in court. Laws are complicated, and "the tipping cases right now are very difficult," said Carolyn Richmond, a New York attorney who has given legal advice to restaurants fighting ROC suits.
"I imagine there's a number of ways [Darden] can go about fighting this, but there's a number of fronts, and ROC often fights dirty."
Critics accuse ROC of focusing on Darden because of the publicity and money it could get from a massive restaurant empire. The company, which also owns Olive Garden and Red Lobster and rang up 7.5 billion in sales last year, agrees.
"They clearly put a target on Darden," company spokesman Rich Jeffers said.
ROC seemed uninterested in learning about the company's diversity record, Jeffers said. Half of the company's managers-in-training have come from the hourly ranks, and 30 percent of those are minorities, he said.
"The diversity in our company speaks for itself," he said.
ROC insists Darden's size has not driven its campaign. Capital Grille workers sought its help, said its co-founder and co-director Saru Jayamaran, a 36-year-old Yale Law school graduate.
ROC, created to help Manhattan restaurant workers left jobless after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, operates in nine cities, including Miami.
It aims to raise servers' wages and require paid sick days for restaurant employees. Staging protests and suing eateries it accuses of improperly paying employees, it has won 5 million in judgments from several smaller restaurant companies.
Before Darden, its most high-profile target has been celebrity chef Mario Batali over tips at a restaurant he co-owns. Batali at one point got a court order barring the group from protesting outside his restaurants.
Jayaraman said ROC is in settlement negotiations with Batali, whose spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.
ROC is described by critics as a radical organization that shakes down restaurateurs, publishes inaccurate studies and acts like a union.
"They feel that capitalism's bad, ultimately," Van Warner said.
Others, though, applaud ROC's efforts. Hospitality and social-justice experts say the group, though small, has become a powerful force.
It's one of the best groups out there focusing on empowering workers, said Bob Shull, an officer with the Washington-based, nonprofit Public Welfare Foundation.
"It's hard to find one that in a short amount of time has made as much of a difference as they have," said Shull, whose group has given ROC more than 500,000 during the past four years.
spedicini@tribune.com or 407-420-5240
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