Purvis-Wolf v. Pineda Inn: Tip Credit Minimum Wage Settlement

Receiving a notice means the defendant’s records indicate you may be in the class, but the class definition still controls who is included.

• You must have been tipped staff at Pineda Inn Bar & Grill.
• A tip credit must have been applied to your hourly wage between April 2021 and August 2023.
• The notice says you must not have received the minimum-wage compensation required by the Florida Minimum Wage Act.
• People who timely opt out, Released Parties, specified judges, and the immediate families of those judges are excluded.

This is a proposed settlement, not a guaranteed immediate payment. The court must approve it, and any appeals must be resolved before checks are sent.

• The payment is $2.00 for each hour of non-tipped work performed during the class period, April 2021 through August 2023.
• You must submit a valid claim form to receive payment.
• The notice calls the settlement fund $120,000 in total. It does not state an individual maximum payment; an individual payment depends on the qualifying non-tipped hours claimed.

The notice does not provide a single consistent instruction about whether a claim can be mailed, submitted online, or both. That unresolved conflict is listed separately above.

• Complete a claim form and select a payment method.
• The claim deadline is October 23, 2026.
• The notice requires a valid claim but does not identify documents that must be submitted to prove class membership or non-tipped hours.

Opting out means leaving this settlement. You will not receive a settlement payment, but you keep the right to sue or continue suing the defendant or a Released Party over claims covered by this settlement. No one may opt out for someone else.

• Send a written opt-out request to the Settlement Administrator.
• Sign it yourself and include your name and address.
• Mail it so it is postmarked by November 3, 2026.

Unlike the claim process, the objection instructions expressly call for documentation sufficient to establish membership in the Settlement Class.

• You must remain in the Settlement Class; a person who opts out cannot object.
• Write and personally sign an objection stating the reasons for it.
• Include your name, current address, telephone number, documentation sufficient to show class membership, and any supporting documents you want to provide.
• File the objection with the court and mail it to the listed class and defendant addresses by November 3, 2026.

The court will decide whether the settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and may also decide fees for Class Counsel and a payment to the plaintiff.

• The hearing is scheduled for November 17, 2026, at 2:15 p.m. via Zoom.
• You do not have to attend; Class Counsel will appear for the class.
• To ask to speak, you must have timely objected and must file a signed notice of intent to appear, with your name, address, and telephone number, by November 3, 2026.
• The hearing date or time may change without another notice.

The notice says that people who do not opt out give up the right to sue or continue suing over the claims this settlement resolves, even if they do not submit a claim.

• If you do nothing, you will not receive a payment.
• Unless you opt out, you will be bound by the settlement’s release of covered claims.
• The release concerns claims for damages arising under the Florida Minimum Wage Act against the defendant and other Released Parties, as defined in the settlement agreement.

The notice does not say whether these requested amounts will be paid from the stated $120,000 Settlement Funds.

• Class Counsel plans to ask the court to approve up to $70,000 in fees and expenses.
• The plaintiff plans to ask for a $5,000 service award.
• The court may award less than the requested amounts.