A recently filed lawsuit claims that servers at a local restaurant were required to contribute a portion of their tips to an illegal pool that benefited management and the business itself, allegedly violating federal labor law. The complaint was submitted by Samuel Song on March 23, 2026, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against Chubby Cattle The Interlock Atlanta LLC and its parent company, Chubby Group.
According to the filing, Song worked as a server and captain at Wagyu House Atlanta from September 30, 2024 until approximately the second week of March 2026. He brings this case as a collective action on behalf of himself and all other current and former servers who worked at Wagyu House Atlanta during that period. The complaint alleges that beginning September 30, 2024, the defendants operated a mandatory tip pool requiring servers to contribute between 8% and 11% of food sales and 10% of alcohol sales to a centralized fund. Song claims these contributions were not distributed as promised but instead were diverted in part to salaried managers and retained by the business itself.
The lawsuit outlines that under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers are prohibited from keeping any portion of employees’ tips or distributing them to managers or supervisors. “Defendants operated an illegal tip pool that required servers to contribute a percentage of their food and alcohol sales to a tip pool that was distributed, at least in part, to Defendants themselves and to salaried, exempt managers — persons expressly prohibited from participating in a tip pool under the FLSA,” the complaint states. Song further alleges that while management told staff the funds would be shared with kitchen workers, hostesses, bussers, and food runners, some or all of those funds never reached kitchen staff as represented.
In addition to challenging the legality of the tip pool itself, Song asserts that he and other servers were paid a sub-minimum wage rate of $3.00 per hour under what is known as the ‘tip credit’ provision allowed by federal law only if all tips are retained by employees or shared among eligible staff. Because he alleges that managers participated in or received funds from the tip pool—making it unlawful—the employer was not permitted to use this lower wage rate. “Because Defendants’ tip pool was illegal… Defendants were prohibited from applying the tip credit during any period the illegal tip pool was in operation,” according to court documents.
The complaint contends these actions resulted in substantial lost income for affected employees: “Plaintiff and similarly situated servers were deprived of substantial tip income to which they were lawfully entitled.” It also claims these violations were willful rather than accidental: “Defendants knew, or showed reckless disregard for whether, their tip pool practices violated the FLSA.” As such, Song seeks recovery not only for unpaid wages but also an equal amount in liquidated damages—a doubling of lost pay—as well as attorneys’ fees and costs.
Song asks the court for several forms of relief: conditional certification so notice can be sent out to all similarly situated workers; declarations finding both companies liable as joint employers; findings that both their tip pooling policy and use of sub-minimum wage rates violated federal law; awards covering withheld tips and wages dating back to September 30, 2024; liquidated damages; legal fees; interest; and any additional relief deemed appropriate by the court.
The proposed collective could include more than sixty individuals based on employment records cited in the suit. The document notes common questions for all affected workers include whether management improperly received tips intended for others—and whether corporate policies set by Chubby Group made it jointly responsible alongside its local affiliate.
Attorneys Christopher B. Hall (Georgia Bar No. 318380) and Joseph Quattlebaum (Georgia Bar No. 319971) with Hall & Lampros LLP represent Samuel Song in this matter under Civil Action No.: 1:26-cv-01555-MHC.
Source: 126cv01555_Samuel_Song_v_Chubby_Cattle_Complaint_Northern_District_of_Georgia.pdf
