Chili's员工提起诉讼 旨在废除纽约州针对小费员工的较低工资标准 记者 Daniel Wiessner 10月23日 - 周五提起的一起涉及Chili's运营商Brinker International薪酬做法的诉讼，旨在推翻纽约州针对赚取小费员工的较低最低工资标准，该诉讼称该标准助长了对员工的性骚扰和种族骚扰。
Chili's workers' lawsuit looks to strike New York state's lower wage for tipped workers By Daniel Wiessner Oct 23 - A lawsuit filed on Friday involving the pay practices of Chili's operator Brinker International is seeking to strike down New York state's lower minimum wage for workers who earn tips, which it claims fuels the sexual and racial harassment of workers.
三名前Chili's员工在布鲁克林联邦法院提起的拟议集体诉讼称，纽约州的这项政策（大多数其他美国州也共享该政策）允许Brinker强迫员工依赖小费，并使他们面临非法歧视。
The proposed class action in federal court in Brooklyn by three former Chili's employees claims that New York's policy, which most other US states share, allows Brinker to force employees to rely on tips and exposes them to unlawful discrimination.
诉讼称：“Brinker提倡一种文化，即小费服务员工让顾客‘感觉特别’，即使是以牺牲他们的尊严和安全为代价。”
"Brinker promotes a culture in which tipped service employees make customers 'feel special,' even at the expense of their dignity and safety," the lawsuit says.
Brinker未回应置评请求。纽约州检察长办公室未立即回应关于对该州法律提出挑战的置评请求。
Brinker did not respond to a request for comment. The New York Attorney General's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the challenge to the state law.
多年来，许多工人权益倡导者一直呼吁取消联邦和大多数州法律允许公司向赚取小费的工人支付的低于最低工资的标准，前提是小费能补足差额。
Many worker advocates have for years called for the elimination of sub-minimum wages that companies may pay to workers who earn tips under federal and most state laws, as long as tips make up the difference.
在纽约州，最低工资为每小时16美元，纽约市及周边地区为每小时17美元，赚取小费的餐饮服务员工每小时可获支付10.70美元或11.35美元。联邦小费最低工资为每小时2.13美元，而传统最低工资为每小时7.25美元，适用于未自行设定最低工资的州。
In New York, where the minimum wage is $16 an hour or $17 in and around New York City, food service workers who earn tips may be paid $10.70 or $11.35 an hour. The federal tipped minimum wage is $2.13 an hour, compared with the traditional minimum wage of $7.25, and applies in states that do not set their own minimums.
依赖小费 倡导者表示，因为小费是酌情给予且不可预测的，它们应该补充工人的收入，而不是构成其薪酬的大部分。针对Brinker的诉讼称，依赖小费迫使工人容忍性骚扰和顾客潜在的种族偏见等行为。
RELYING ON TIPS Advocates say that because tips are discretionary and unpredictable, they should supplement workers' incomes rather than make up most of their pay. The lawsuit against Brinker says that relying on tips forces workers to tolerate conduct such as sexual harassment and customers' potential racial bias.
原告律师在诉讼中表示，他们计划将案件扩大，以涵盖全美范围内的Chili's员工集体。
The plaintiffs' lawyers said in the lawsuit that they plan to expand the case to include a nationwide class of Chili's workers.
Brinker在美国经营超过1200家Chili's餐厅，其中包括纽约州的36家。该公司还拥有Maggiano's Little Italy，这是一个在美国拥有约50家分店的意大利餐厅连锁品牌。
Brinker operates more than 1,200 Chili's restaurants in the US, including 36 in New York. The company also owns Maggiano's Little Italy, an Italian restaurant chain with about 50 US locations.
诉讼称，Chili's依靠顾客评分来决定员工的排班、轮班和桌位分配，这也是非法的。诉讼指出，评分系统可能存在种族偏见，并可能导致服务员因担心获得差评而难以拒绝顾客的骚扰行为。
The lawsuit claims that Chili's reliance on customer ratings to determine workers' schedules, shifts and table assignments is also unlawful. The ratings system can be racially biased, the lawsuit says, and can make it difficult for servers to reject unwanted advances from customers for fear of a poor rating.
原告是三名前雇员，他们曾在纽约市皇后区Glendale地区的一家Chili's餐厅工作。他们声称经常遭受性骚扰和不当言论，且管理层未能充分保护员工免受骚扰。
The named plaintiffs, three former employees at a Chili's in the Glendale section of Queens in New York City, claim they were routinely subjected to sexual advances and inappropriate comments and that management did not adequately protect workers from harassment.