NEW YORK \u2013\u00a0New York Attorney General Letitia James today secured $440,000 from Denny\u2019s franchise owners Reveille Management, LLC (Reveille Management) and Top Line Restaurants, Inc. (Top Line Restaurants) for failing to pay their restaurant workers the full wages they were owed. Reveille Management and Top Line Restaurants, both owned by Arizona-based couple Glenn and Tina Beattie, operate Denny\u2019s restaurants in at least five states, including 23 locations across Western New York, and employ thousands of New Yorkers as cooks, dishwashers, servers, hosts, and supervisors. An Office of the Attorney General (OAG) investigation found that these franchise owners repeatedly failed to pay more than 1,900 Denny\u2019s workers the extra pay they were owed for long shifts, known as \u201cspread of hours\u201d pay, as required by New York law. As a result of OAG\u2019s investigation, the Beatties must pay $440,000 in restitution to current and former employees whose wages were unlawfully withheld and overhaul their policies and procedures to ensure the violations do not continue.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDenny\u2019s workers kept these restaurants running through long days and late nights, and\u00a0they deserve\u00a0to be paid\u00a0every dollar they earned,\u201d said\u00a0Attorney General James. \u201cThese franchise owners ignored clear wage laws and shortchanged hardworking New Yorkers. My office will continue to stand up for workers and hold employers accountable when they cheat people out of their pay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York state law requires\u00a0restaurant workers\u00a0to\u00a0receive one\u00a0additional\u00a0hour of pay for\u00a0any workday\u00a0longer than 10 hours. This \u201cspread of hours\u201d\u00a0pay is calculated at the state\u2019s minimum wage rate and applies by day, not by shift,\u00a0meaning it\u00a0covers\u00a0consecutive shifts\u00a0worked\u00a0within\u00a0a single day\u00a0and\u00a0includes meal breaks, rest periods, and\u00a0time between\u00a0shifts. Employers\u00a0must\u00a0provide spread of hours pay\u00a0for\u00a0every qualifying\u00a0workday,\u00a0whether\u00a0or not\u00a0the employee requests it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0OAG opened an investigation in December 2024 after a Denny\u2019s employee\u00a0filed a complaint alleging\u00a0the company\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0paying for extended shifts.\u00a0After a thorough review of\u00a0payroll and timekeeping records, OAG\u00a0determined\u00a0that\u00a0since\u00a02019, at least 1,900 workers\u00a0had\u00a0completed\u00a0more than\u00a020,000 shifts that qualified for spread of hours pay but\u00a0had not been\u00a0properly compensated.\u00a0The\u00a0OAG\u00a0found\u00a0that the franchise owners paid spread of hours wages only sporadically, usually when an employee or manager requested it. The companies also\u00a0failed to\u00a0notify employees of their right to spread of hours pay and did not include the requirement in their employee handbook.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a result of OAG\u2019s investigation,\u00a0Attorney General James has secured $440,000\u00a0in restitution from\u00a0Reveille Management and Top Line Restaurants\u00a0for\u00a0impacted\u00a0workers. A\u00a0settlement administrator engaged by OAG will distribute\u00a0the funds\u00a0directly to\u00a0Denny\u2019s workers\u00a0who had qualified for spread of hours pay, providing them\u00a0with\u00a0the compensation they were denied.\u00a0Eligible\u00a0workers\u00a0will be contacted by the settlement administrator via mail, email, and\/or text with notices of the settlement and information on how to file a claim.\u00a0The franchise owners will pay up to $40,000\u00a0in addition to the restitution amount to cover the costs of the settlement administrator.\u00a0None of the settlement funds will revert to the\u00a0franchise owners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To prevent future\u00a0wage violations,\u00a0Attorney General James\u00a0is requiring\u00a0Reveille Management and Top Line Restaurants\u00a0to\u00a0overhaul their\u00a0human resources\u00a0policies and practices.\u00a0The companies\u00a0must:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Provide notices to all managers and employees explaining their wage and hour policies, including the right to spread of hours pay;\u00a0\u00a0Update their employee handbook to include spread of hours requirements;\u00a0Revise employee earnings statements to specifically identify spread of hours payments;\u00a0Train all new and existing employees on wage and hour policies under New York and federal law, including employee rights to spread of hours pay, breaks, paid sick leave, and paid family leave;\u00a0\u00a0Conduct annual anti-harassment and anti-discrimination trainings;Designate a point of contact to review complaints received by OAG from current and former employees; and\u00a0Submit regular compliance reports to OAG for three years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The franchise owners are also forbidden from retaliating against any employees, including former or current employees who participated in OAG\u2019s investigation. More information on the settlement can be found on OAG\u2019s website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n “As the son of\u00a0long-standing union members and someone who came up in a union job myself, I know what it means when a paycheck comes up short, and for more than 1,900 workers at 23 Denny’s locations here in Western New York, it came up short for years,” said\u202fCongressman Tim Kennedy. “Thanks to Attorney General James investigation, $440,000 is going back to the workers who earned it, with real action and accountability built in so it doesn’t happen again. Every worker deserves to be paid for every minute they work, and I’m grateful we have an Attorney General willing to enforce that.”\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe\u00a0state of New York is fortunate to have a fighter the likes of Attorney General James, fighting for workers here in Western New York,\u201d said\u00a0Majority Leader Crystal People-Stokes.\u00a0\u201cBusiness owners are on notice: do right by your employees. Plain and simple. I applaud our\u00a0Attorney General\u00a0and her office for supporting Western New York workers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n “Every worker deserves to be paid every dollar they earn, and employers have a responsibility to follow the law,”\u00a0said Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan. “I’m grateful to Attorney General James and her team for standing up for Western New York workers and ensuring that nearly 2,000 employees receive the wages they were rightfully owed. Protecting workers’ rights and holding employers accountable helps build a stronger economy and a fairer community for everyone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEmployees report to their jobs expecting to be paid fairly for the work they do every day, as the law requires, and it is always upsetting to hear when employers don\u2019t hold up their end of the deal by cheating their employees out of the wages they\u2019ve rightfully earned. In this case, workers were entitled to extra pay after working long shifts, compensation that was illegally withheld by their employer,\u201d said\u00a0Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. \u201cHowever, Attorney General James is well-noted for her pursuit of employers found to be exploiting their workers in such ways and her vigilance once again is making\u00a0a big difference\u00a0for these affected employees. Thanks to her, they will be getting\u00a0restitution\u00a0and the employers will be paying for the settlement administrator as well. Cheating employees out of their hard-earned paychecks is unlawful and unconscionable and I thank Attorney General James for once again stepping in to protect our\u00a0working men\u00a0and women.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n “As a federation representing more than 145,000 union workers and retirees across this region, we applaud\u00a0Attorney General James for her office’s continued work to hold law-breaking employers accountable and make workers whole,” said\u00a0Denise Abbott, President of the Western New York Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. “When workers face abuse and exploitation on the job, their families and our communities suffer immeasurable harm. We are proud to stand with Attorney General James as she fights for working families across New York, returning tens of millions in stolen wages, tips, and benefits to the hardworking people who keep this state running.”\u00a0<\/p>\n This is the latest of Attorney General James\u2019 efforts to combat exploitative labor practices. In December 2025, Attorney General James\u00a0secured $45 million for underpaid home health aides<\/a>. Also in December 2025, Attorney General James\u00a0sued UPS for repeatedly stealing wages from thousands of seasonal and delivery workers across the state<\/a>. In October 2025, Attorney General James\u00a0delivered $1.4 million to New York City construction workers who faced retaliation and abuse<\/a>. In July 2025, Attorney General James\u00a0secured $148,000 for union workers who were denied paid sick leave<\/a>. In June 2025, Attorney General James\u00a0secured $400,000 for underpaid New York City school security guards<\/a>. In May 2025, Attorney General James\u00a0secured over $660,000 for health care workers who were recruited from abroad and coerced into exploitative contracts<\/a>. In March 2025, Attorney General James\u00a0secured $750,000 and critical reforms to address sexual harassment and discrimination at Con Ed<\/a>. In February 2025, Attorney General James\u00a0secured $16.75 million from DoorDash for cheating its delivery workers out of tips<\/a>\u00a0and, in January 2025, Attorney General James\u00a0recovered $1.1 million for Rikers Island cleaners cheated out of fair pay<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n This matter was handled by\u00a0Assistant Attorney General\u00a0Lawrence\u00a0J.\u00a0Reina, Auditor Investigator Erica Ciccarelli,\u00a0and\u00a0Civil\u00a0Enforcement\u00a0Section Chief\u00a0Fiona\u00a0Kaye\u00a0under\u00a0the supervision of Bureau Chief Karen Cacace,\u00a0all of\u00a0the Labor Bureau. The Labor Bureau is a part of the Division for Social Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2013\u00a0New York Attorney General Letitia James today secured $440,000 from Denny\u2019s franchise owners Reveille Management, LLC…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,3556],"class_list":["post-309920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-workers-rights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}