Little Big Burger fined after 'willfully' withholding tips

Portland-area burger chain, Little Big Burger, was ordered to pay over $316,000 on Wednesday after a United States Department of Labor investigation found 14 restaurant locations withheld tips to pay managers, officials announced.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Portland-area burger chain, Little Big Burger, was ordered to pay over $316,000 on Wednesday after a United States Department of Labor investigation found 14 restaurant locations in Oregon and Washington withheld tips, officials announced.

The labor department investigated nine locations in Portland, along with restaurants in Beaverton, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, Eugene, and Seattle, and learned employees were required to share a portion of their tips with managers between February 2019 and February 2022 -- which violates the Fair Labor Standards Act, the department said.

Investigators determined the employers knew about the federal regulations for tips but “willfully required workers to share their earned tips,” officials said.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon ordered the employers to pay $148,248 in illegally withheld tips and an equal amount in damages to 581 workers. The court added a $20,000 fine for their willful violations, the labor department explained.

Additionally, the judgement “forbids the employers from future violations,” officials said.

“Oregon’s Little Big Burger joins a list of shameful U.S. restaurant employers we’ve found shortchanging workers by misusing some of their tips to pay managers not allowed to pocket tips,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. “Federal law forbids employers from keeping employees’ tips — either direct from customers or shared in a tip pool — for any purpose.”

“Since 2022, the Wage and Hour Division has recovered more than $2 million in unpaid tips for more than 1,500 people employed as restaurant workers in Oregon and Idaho,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Katherine Walum in Portland. “Federal law protects every worker’s right to be paid their full, earned wages. As Little Big Burger has learned, wage theft brings costly consequences for employers.”

KOIN 6 News reached out to Little Big Burger but has not heard back.