A recent legal filing alleges that a group of restaurant workers were not fully compensated for their work, raising questions about wage practices in the hospitality industry. The complaint was filed by Delisa Griffin on March 10, 2026, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against Inspire Restaurant Group, LLC and its president Mario Johnson.
According to the complaint, Griffin is pursuing the case both individually and on behalf of other employees in similar positions. She claims that Inspire Restaurant Group and Johnson failed to pay her and other tipped employees for all hours worked, including overtime hours beyond 40 per week. The suit specifically cites alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which sets federal standards for minimum wage and overtime pay.
The document outlines that Inspire Restaurant Group operates several restaurants in Atlanta, including The Beverly Atlanta, Grant Park Social, and Lokee Atlanta. Johnson is described as the founder and president of Inspire since its organization in 2015. Griffin states she worked as a bartender and server at The Beverly within three years preceding the lawsuit’s filing date.
The complaint details how Griffin and other tipped employees were paid $2.13 per hour plus customer tips but were often required to work more than 40 hours a week. It alleges that after accepting payment from their final customer each shift, defendants automatically clocked out these employees from the timekeeping system—regardless of whether customers remained or post-shift duties had been completed. “After customers left the Beverly and the restaurant closed, the tipped employees were required to complete post-shift tasks such as cleaning and balancing cash registers for the next day,” according to court documents.
Griffin asserts that although these post-shift tasks could take up to two additional hours each night after closing time, neither she nor similarly situated employees received compensation for this period. “Defendants held the tipped employees tips until they finished all post-shift tasks,” further requiring all staff to leave together at night’s end.
The complaint also describes how tips were distributed among staff: bartenders had to give 5% of their total earnings to barbacks; servers gave 5% of liquor sales to bartenders and 3% of food sales to barbacks. All employees clocked into work using an electronic system called Toast at shift start but were clocked out by management immediately after their last transaction with a customer—even if additional duties remained.
Legally, Griffin argues that these practices violate FLSA requirements mandating employers pay workers for all hours worked—including those spent performing non-customer-facing tasks before or after business hours—and provide overtime pay when applicable. “Defendants suffered or permitted the tipped employees to work without compensation to complete post-shift tasks,” states the filing.
Griffin requests several forms of relief from the court: conditional certification as a collective action so other affected workers can join; findings that defendants’ actions violated federal law; awards for unpaid wages over a three-year period; liquidated damages equal to those unpaid wages; attorneys’ fees; pre- and post-judgment interest; and any other relief deemed appropriate by the court.
The plaintiff is represented by attorneys Andrew Y. Coffman (Georgia Bar No. 173115) and James D. Dean (Georgia Bar No. 696656) from Parks, Chesin & Walbert P.C., located at 1355 Peachtree Street NE Suite 2000 in Atlanta. The case identification number is 1:26-cv-01337-TRJ.
Source: 126cv01337_Delisa_Griffin_v_Inspire_Restaurant_Complaint_Northern_District_of_Georiga.pdf
