Allegations of unpaid wages and improper tip distribution have been raised against a local business, as a former employee seeks legal remedy for herself and others who worked in similar roles. The complaint was filed by Bria Brooks on April 13, 2026, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against Prime Cigar LLC and its owner Javarius Gay.
According to the court filing, Brooks worked as a non-exempt server at Prime Cigar from February 8, 2024 to April 10, 2025. She claims that during her employment, she and other servers were not properly compensated for all hours worked. The complaint states that “Defendants, as a regular and routine practice, failed to properly compensate Plaintiff and those similarly situated by failing to pay them any base wages at all for some of the hours they worked.” It further alleges that employees were required to pay out-of-pocket for uniforms and other job-related expenses, which reduced their effective wages below the federal minimum.
The document outlines several alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), including failure to pay minimum wage for all hours worked and improper handling of employee tips. Specifically, Brooks asserts that “Defendants regularly paid Plaintiff and other Servers a base subminimum wage of $2.13 per hour” while also requiring them to “tip out” 15% of their tips regardless of whether customers left additional gratuity beyond an automatic service charge. The complaint describes how access to tip records was restricted in mid-2024: “In approximately May or June 2024, Defendants removed Plaintiff and other Servers’ access to an app that allowed them to see how much they were making in tips per shift.” Additionally, it is alleged that after complaints about pay practices in October 2024, management withheld both auto-gratuity payments and customer tips from servers for about two months.
Brooks also contends that Prime Cigar did not provide legally required disclosures regarding tip credits under federal regulations. According to the filing: “Defendants did not provide Plaintiff and other Servers with a disclosure compliant with 29 C.F.R. §§ 531.54 and 531.59(b)… As a consequence, Defendants violated the FLSA by taking a tip credit against Defendants’ minimum wage obligations.” The lawsuit claims these actions constitute willful violations of labor law.
The collective action seeks relief on behalf of all individuals employed as servers or performing similar work at Prime Cigar within three years prior to the filing date—alleged by Brooks to be more than twenty-five people. The suit requests several forms of relief: designation as a collective action under federal law; declaratory judgment that defendants’ practices are unlawful; awards for unpaid minimum wages; liquidated damages equal to withheld amounts; recovery of unlawfully retained tips; interest; attorneys’ fees; costs; and any further relief deemed appropriate by the court.
The case is being handled by attorneys Justin M. Scott (Georgia Bar No. 557463) and Tierra M. Monteiro (Georgia Bar No. 743224) from Radford Scott LLP in Decatur, Georgia. The case number is 1:26-cv-01994-TRJ.
Source: 126cv01994_Bria_Brooks_v_Prime_Cigar_Complaint_Northern_District_Of_Georgia.pdf
