Cheesecake Factory shorted North Italia servers’ pay, a new class action claims.

On Oct. 19, 2026, former North Italia servers Lisa Bryner and Frank Cirincione filed a class action lawsuit against The Cheesecake Factory Restaurants Inc. and affiliate North Restaurants LLC in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The lawsuit claims the companies paid tipped workers at their North Italia restaurants less than minimum wage without meeting the legal conditions for doing so.

How the tip credit works

Federal and Arizona laws let restaurants pay tipped workers a lower hourly wage and count part of their tips toward the minimum wage, an arrangement known as a tip credit. Employers must follow strict rules to use it, including telling workers in advance how it works, the lawsuit claims. An employer that breaks those rules owes the full minimum wage for every hour, according to the proposed class action.

The alleged pay violations

Bryner says she worked as a server at an Arizona North Italia location from September 2024 to February 2025. Cirincione says he spent about 12 years as a server and bartender at a separate Arizona location before leaving in June 2024.

Both claim the companies paid them an hourly rate below minimum wage while breaking the tip credit rules in several ways:


  • Not giving workers the required written notice about the tip credit or updating it when pay rates changed

  • Making them buy and clean their own uniforms, including pants and shoes, which Arizona law requires employers to cover

  • Requiring online training off the clock or at the lower tipped rate

  • Assigning cleaning and prep work the kitchen staff usually handled, such as mopping floors, washing utensils, taking out trash and cutting fruit

  • Having them spend more than 20% of their week on side work like rolling silverware and making tea and lemonade

North Italia required server to arrive one to two hours before opening and sometimes stay that long after closing when there were customers there to tip them, the filing alleges. The restaurants' timekeeping system could have logged that work under a separate full-wage code, but the companies never set one up, according to the lawsuit.

The legal claims

Bryner and Cirincione bring minimum wage and overtime claims under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act plus minimum wage and late-payment claims under the Arizona Minimum Wage Act.

They seek the full minimum wage and overtime pay the companies allegedly withheld, extra damages allowed under both laws, interest and attorneys' fees. Their lawsuit also asks for an order requiring the companies to fix their pay practices.

What the lawsuit means for North Italia workers

The federal claims cover current and former tipped North Italia workers nationwide who earned less than minimum wage per hour since Oct. 19, 2023, while the Arizona claims cover those who worked in that state. Under federal law, workers outside the Arizona group must sign on to join that part of the case.

As of this writing, there is no settlement, no claims process and no money available.