COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two waitresses were awarded $700,000 in class action settlement against a steak restaurant franchise after they filed a federal lawsuit under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The two waitresses, Rachel Bontempi and Tiffany Tatham, said they and others employed at the Texas Roadhouse on Columbiana Drive were paid $2.13 an hour while their tips went into what the suit called an “invalid tip pool.”

The tip pool was then divvied up and dispersed among the wait staff and other employees, some of whom did not “serve customers or have any interaction with them,” the suit said.

The 2015 federal lawsuit argued that the act was a violation of the minimum wage portion of the FLSA, because the restaurant paid them under minimum wage and claimed a tip credit under federal law.

The suit was settled as a class action, meaning others who worked under the tip pool at certain Texas Roadhouse restaurants in Columbia and Anderson will be eligible to receive benefits.

Eligible employees need to have worked at any of the Columbia restaurants between May 12, 2014 and April 27, 2015. Those at the Anderson location need to have worked between January 8, 2013 and December 31, 2014 to be eligible.

Those who fall under that year time period in both restaurants will be notified in the weeks ahead.

Despite the settlement, attorneys for Texas Roadhouse denied the restaurant chain “engaged in any wrongdoing, deny that their practices violated federal law or any state laws and contend that the case could not be maintained as a collective if it were to proceed to trial”

The attorneys said they ultimately settled to avoid the “expense, inconvenience and distraction of further litigation.”

When we go out to eat, most of us leave some sort of tip. It’s usually based on the quality of the service we get.

That wasn’t the case for an employee at an Iowa restaurant. Instead, she received a note reading “tips are only for normal looking people.”

The employee has worked at Zombie Burger in Des Moines for five years.

She was hurt after reading the note, but now has some words for the customer she served.

“I would tell them to not judge someone based on what they look like,” said Taelor Beecks. “I mean I may look like a weirdo but I’m actually a very nice, decent person. It’s the way that I can express myself artistically and it’s really important for me that I’m allowed to do that, and it’s ok if people don’t understand it because it’s just who I am.”

In a statement, the group that owns Zombie Burger says in part “We are in 100% support of our staff and we’re confident that our customers will be as well.”