Welcome to Florida Restaurant Law. This site is the work of Lowell J. Kuvin, Esq. a Florida attorney who after 25 years in the restaurant and hospitality business decided to become a lawyer so he could fight for hospitality and restaurant worker's rights.
About Us
Lowell J. Kuvin’s first career was in the restaurant and hospitality business. Some of the local restaurants he includes on his restaurant resume are Shula’s Steak House and Joe’s Stone Crab. After twenty-five years in the restaurant business Mr. Kuvin left Joe’s Stone Crab to attend law school and to open up his own law firm. A large part of Mr. Kuvin’s firm is dedicated to worker’s rights in the hospitality and restaurant industry. His office is located in Downtown Miami in-between the Miami-Dade Circuit Court and the Federal Court Houses. Mr. Kuvin’s comprehensive knowledge of both front and back of the house operations, restaurant management policy and procedures, and Florida as well as Federal law give him a distinctive advantage in litigating restaurant and hospitality issues.
Some of Our Current litigation:
Mr. Kuvin working together with the law firm of Morgan & Morgan represent 20 former and current employees of Philippe Chow a South Beach restaurant which violated both Federal FLSA laws and State laws by not paying their employees for regular hours worked, for overtime hours worked, by requiring servers to tip out management and other kitchen staff, by making servers pay for walkouts. A lawsuit has been filed in Federal Court and is moving forward. Employees froma sister restaurant located in L.A. have complaint of similar treatment. A local area attorney is investigating their claims.
Mr. Kuvin represents two male bartenders over 40 years of age who were constructively fired and replaced by two under 40, less qualified female bartenders simply because management wanted to have female bartenders.This case is currently under investigation by the EEOC West Palm Beach office. The investigation by the EEOC is nearly completed.
The Law Firm of Lowell J. Kuvin represents three servers from Beef Eaters restaurant who were not paid any hourly wages for a period of several years. Additionally, the servers were forced to contribute a portion of their tips each week to the restaurant in order to pay the cleaning crew. Suit has been filed in Federal court and is ongoing.
Mr. Kuvin represents more than a dozen employees of a Jacksonville area restaurant who were forced to work off the clock, discriminated against based on their religion, and terminated from employment in retaliation for complaining to management about their unlawful policies and procedures. This case was recently settled. The employer paid all of the back wages which the servers were shorted. The restaurant also fired the general manager and set new stringent policies discrimination of any sort. A majority of the fired employees have been hired back.
The Law Firm of Lowell J. Kuvin represents three servers from a Tampa area Country Club who were forced to share a portion of their tip/wages with managment. The manager also worked periodically as a bartender, however, he retained his authority to write-up and fire employees which made him ineligable to participate in the mandatory tip pooling policy. This case was recently settled with the employees receiving all of their back wages/tips and the Country Club paying attorney fees and costs.