Restaurant group to pay employees overdue wages and OT pay after Minnesota AG investigation

Employees of a Minneapolis-based restaurant group will receive the wages and overtime pay that they were denied as a result of a recent settlement with the Minnesota Attorney General's Office, Attorney General Keith Ellison said Friday in a news release.

The Bartmann Group, which owns restaurants that include Barbette in Uptown and the Tiny Diner in the Powderhorn neighborhood, has paid and will pay its employees more than $230,000 to compensate for its failure to pay wages on time, the release said.

The settlement concludes an investigation Ellison's office launched in March 2020 after it learned that Bartmann had laid off workers during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns without giving them their final paychecks. Based on interviews with employees, investigators found Bartmann also had failed to compensate workers for overtime hours, in addition to the missed payroll.

Some employees worked more than 40 hours per week among multiple Bartmann-owned restaurants, but weren't paid the time-and-a-half wages they were owed under the law.

Bartmann has already paid employees nearly $99,000 in back wages and more than $66,000 in overtime wages that they were owed. As part of a settlement with Ellison's office, the group will pay a little more than $66,000 in additional damages.

The restaurant group also agreed that the state can seek a civil penalty of $100,000 if it violates wage laws again in the next eight years.

The settlement also requires the Bartmann Group to establish a written overtime policy that specifically addresses employees who work at multiple restaurants owned by the group.

The settlement does not waive any employee's right to seek owed compensation not covered in the agreement.

Maya Miller • 612-673-7086