Justin Timberlake's BBQ Joint Grilled by Ex-Employee

Disgruntled former busboy at J.T.'s Manhattan restaurant claims he wasn't paid a living wage

By Natalie Finn Nov 15, 2008 2:15 AMTags
Justin Timberlake Gerallt Radcliffe, PacificCoastNews.com

Justin Timberlake's restaurant has left one former employee hungry for more.

An ex-busboy at Southern Hospitality BBQ & Bar in Manhattan, which is co-owned by the pop star, buddy Trace Ayala and a couple others, has filed a lawsuit claiming that he wasn't paid a living wage during the year he spent working there.

In a federal lawsuit filed Friday in New York, 26-year-old Felipe Ramales alleges that he and some fellow employees were not given their rightful share of automatic gratuity charges that were applied to tables of six or more. The plaintiff also says that he regularly worked more than 40 hours a week and received no overtime pay.

But while Ramales' grievances are plentiful, a Southern Hospitality rep says that they're baseless, as well.

Restaurant manager Chris Russell said that staffers took home every bit of their tips and that employee salaries were well over minimum wage.

Reps for Timberlake or his partners have yet to respond to the suit.