A group of current and former bartenders is taking Columbus-based Rise Brands to federal court, accusing the company behind Pins Mechanical Co. of playing fast and loose with their wages and tips at the Easton Town Center bar and other locations. In a collective action, the workers claim managers and back-of-house staff were cut into tip pools and that bartenders spent serious time on opening, closing and pre-shift work while being paid less than the full minimum wage. They are asking for unpaid wages, allegedly withheld tips, attorneys’ fees and other damages.
The case is filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio as Anello et al. v. Rise Brands, Inc., and the docket shows the complaint hit the court on April 15, 2025, according to Justia. The lawsuit names three defendants: Rise Brands, Pins Mechanical Co., LLC and Pins Mechanical Co. — Easton, LLC.
What the complaint says
The bartenders say their tips did not stay behind the bar. According to the filing, tipped workers were required to share with non-tipped staff, members of an “experience team” and even managers, which the plaintiffs argue would knock out the company’s ability to use the tip credit, as detailed in the complaint on Barkan Meizlish. The workers also allege they regularly handled non-tip-producing work — cleaning, troubleshooting games and other opening and closing tasks — while still being paid a tipped subminimum rate.
Exhibits attached to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs say, show that Rise Brands updated its tip-pool policy in mid-2022 and circulated a memo that required tipped workers to share with experience-team members, and that at least one employee flagged the issue with HR in August 2024, according to coverage by NBC4. Those documents sit in the official court record.
Where this could affect workers
This is not just about one busy bar at Easton. Pins lists around a dozen locations across six states, including three in the Columbus area — Easton, Downtown, and Dublin — so the plaintiffs argue the challenged policies could reach across the brand. The company’s FAQ and locations page confirm its multistate footprint and multiple Ohio sites on Pins Mechanical Co..
Legal context
Under federal wage rules, employers cannot keep employee tips or let managers dip into mandatory tip pools, and if a business does not meet all the tip-credit requirements, it has to pay the full minimum wage. The U.S. Department of Labor states in its guidance on tipped employees that an employer may not allow managers and supervisors to keep any portion of an employee’s tips.
Where the case stands
According to court records, the case has moved beyond the opening paper shuffle. The judge granted a joint motion that authorizes court-supervised notice under the Fair Labor Standards Act to potential opt-in plaintiffs, as reflected in the order on Justia. Local reporting on May 11, 2026 noted that NBC4 reached out to Rise Brands for comment and had not received a response at that time.
The litigation is still very much alive and headed into discovery and potential motions in the coming months. For now, the complaint frames the fight as a challenge to companywide wage practices, and no court has awarded any damages.
