Showing posts with label Dining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dining. Show all posts
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
Saturday, 22 September 2012
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Miami is known for its world-class fine dining experience. In addition to participating Miami Spice restaurants, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau touts a plethora of unique restaurants. For additional restaurants, please click here.
Saturday, 8 September 2012
MIAMI — Darden Restaurants Inc. violated federal labor laws by underpaying thousands of servers across the country at Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Red Lobster and other eateries, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday on behalf of the workers.
The lawsuit filed in Miami federal court seeks to collectively represent current and past employees who worked for Darden from August 2009 to the present. It seeks potentially tens of millions of dollars in back pay and other compensation, plus interest and attorney fees, said lead lawyer David Lichter.
"Darden has a companywide pattern and practice of paying its employees below minimum wage and less than what the law requires," Lichter said. "We're seeking not only to correct the wrongs that have occurred at Darden, but hopefully this will stimulate change across the country."
Darden spokesman Rich Jeffers said the allegations "fly in the face of our values and how we operate our business."
"Each of our brands complies with all federal and state labor and employment laws, and we're proud of our standing as an employer of choice," he said in an email.
The Orlando-based company's website said it has more than 2,000 restaurants in North America that employ about 180,000 people. Darden does not franchise its restaurants.
The Department of Labor has found violations similar to those claimed in the lawsuit in several individual investigations, including a 2011 probe in which the company agreed to pay more than $25,000 in back wages to Olive Garden workers in Mesquite, Texas. Darden was also assessed a $30,800 fine in that case.
Also in 2011, Darden paid more than $27,000 in back pay and a nearly $24,000 civil penalty for labor violations involving 109 current and former Red Lobster workers in Lubbock, Texas, according to the Labor Department.
There are similar lawsuits pending in Illinois and New York, but the one filed in Florida is the first seeking to represent all Darden workers at its four major brands: Olive Garden, Red Lobster, LongHorn Steakhouse and The Capital Grille. Its named plaintiffs are two Darden workers in Florida and Virginia.
Jeffers said the company was unaware of the two employees' complaints prior to the lawsuit and neither of them had used an in-house program aimed at addressing employee disputes and concerns.
"We take any claims of impropriety seriously and we routinely investigate them," he said.
The lawsuit was filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Its claims against Darden include:
-Servers showed up for shifts as scheduled but were not allowed to clock in until customers began arriving. Some were also forced to clock out and continue working without pay.
-Employees who worked beyond 40 hours a week were not paid 1.5 times their regular pay as required.
-Tipped employees refilled salt shakers, rolled silverware in napkins and vacuumed for more than 20 percent of their work time. Such "side work" beyond 20 percent for tipped employees entitles them to at least the minimum wage, which those employees otherwise do not usually get.
Attorneys said it was unclear how much money is owed to the entire class of affected Darden workers, which they expect to easily top 1,000 people.
Commercial fishing for popular snapper species is likely to end Sept. 11, hurting fishermen, restaurants and markets
By SUSAN COCKING
scocking@miamiherald.com
Eat up while you can. In the next week or so, yellowtail snapper — a delectable and pricey seafood treat — is going to become scarce and more expensive in South Florida and a lot of other places.
For the first time, the commercial harvest of yellowtail in the South Atlantic from the Carolinas to the Keys is set to close just after midnight on Sept. 11. And unless federal fisheries managers act quickly, catching and selling the tasty reef fish could be prohibited in the region through the end of the year.
The closure — which applies to federal waters (more than three miles from shore) — was announced just before the Labor Day holiday weekend by NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency responsible for managing saltwater fishing in the U.S. It came as a shock to commercial fishers, seafood markets and restaurants in South Florida.
“What we have is our own personal 9/11, and the terrorist happens to be the federal government,” said Tom Hill, president of Key Largo Fisheries, which sells yellowtail to about 300 retailers, restaurants and other businesses from Key West to Fort Lauderdale. “This caught everybody off guard. It puts everybody in a scramble.”
Hill and other seafood dealers say the closure will put some fishermen out of work and drive up the price of yellowtail, which isn’t cheap at about $12 per pound for a fillet.
What triggered the closure is a little-known provision of a federal law known as the Magnuson-Stevens Act that took effect earlier this year. The law requires federal fisheries managers to set annual catch limits for many popular saltwater species in order to prevent overfishing, which means catching fish faster than they can reproduce. On the recommendation of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, NOAA Fisheries set the annual catch limit of yellowtail at 1,142,589 pounds for commercial fishers and 1,031,286 pounds for recreational anglers. Those allocations were based on historical landings for the species, which come mainly from the Keys. Last week, NOAA announced it estimated that the commercial catch limit would be reached by Sept. 11 and the fishery would have to close until Jan. 1.
For the first time, the commercial harvest of yellowtail in the South Atlantic from the Carolinas to the Keys is set to close just after midnight on Sept. 11. And unless federal fisheries managers act quickly, catching and selling the tasty reef fish could be prohibited in the region through the end of the year.
The closure — which applies to federal waters (more than three miles from shore) — was announced just before the Labor Day holiday weekend by NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency responsible for managing saltwater fishing in the U.S. It came as a shock to commercial fishers, seafood markets and restaurants in South Florida.
“What we have is our own personal 9/11, and the terrorist happens to be the federal government,” said Tom Hill, president of Key Largo Fisheries, which sells yellowtail to about 300 retailers, restaurants and other businesses from Key West to Fort Lauderdale. “This caught everybody off guard. It puts everybody in a scramble.”
Hill and other seafood dealers say the closure will put some fishermen out of work and drive up the price of yellowtail, which isn’t cheap at about $12 per pound for a fillet.
What triggered the closure is a little-known provision of a federal law known as the Magnuson-Stevens Act that took effect earlier this year. The law requires federal fisheries managers to set annual catch limits for many popular saltwater species in order to prevent overfishing, which means catching fish faster than they can reproduce. On the recommendation of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, NOAA Fisheries set the annual catch limit of yellowtail at 1,142,589 pounds for commercial fishers and 1,031,286 pounds for recreational anglers. Those allocations were based on historical landings for the species, which come mainly from the Keys. Last week, NOAA announced it estimated that the commercial catch limit would be reached by Sept. 11 and the fishery would have to close until Jan. 1.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/05/v-fullstory/2984660/commercial-harvest-of-yellowtail.html#storylink=cpy
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