A popular Walt Disney World restaurant is currently facing a lawsuit from former employees. This third-party restaurant on Disney World property is a popular spot for its Instagram-worthy aesthetic and is often featured on social media for the glitter effects on its desserts.
Let’s get into all the details of this newest lawsuit impacting a Disney World location, which comes just weeks after we reported on similar issues with third-party business practices on Disney World property. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including another change coming to Disney Springs and a Disney World hotel discount extended.
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Cake Bake Shop Sued by Former Employees
The Cake Bake Shop by Gwendolyn Rogers at Disney’s BoardWalk in Walt Disney World is an upscale table-service restaurant with a grab-and-go bakery. The restaurant is known for its extravagant decor and extravagant prices, with a notable slice of cake costing around $22.
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The aesthetic of The Cake Bake Shop has been popular on Instagram, with many social media posts highlighting it as a fun place to celebrate a birthday, especially when you add the special Pixie Dust glitter. Guests celebrating an occasion will receive an extra plate of Pixie Glitter for extra effect as you blow out your candles, which has resulted in a viral trend. The Cake Bake Shop has a rotating menu of cakes, with menu updates happening nearly every two weeks as they add different cakes and dessert options.
The Cake Bake Shop is now going viral for a less-than-ideal reason in light of several recent lawsuits, including at least 11 former employees. The former employees are accusing the restaurant of not paying minimum wage, according to court records. Court documents allege that the former servers and bartenders relied on tips but were instead assigned additional duties that were “excessive” and not “compensated fairly.” The former employees also alleged that deductions were made from their paychecks for uniform cleaning and shoe purchases.
According to a recent article from WDWNT, the most recent former employee to file a lawsuit against the company, Alexandria Pope, alleges she was required to do unpaid labor in her complaint filed April 30 in Orange County. She is seeking $4,804 plus interest and attorney’s fees. The amount she is seeking is meant to cover $2,402 in unpaid wages and another $2,402 for damages when she worked as a server for The Cake Bake Shop. Pope is accusing the owner, Gwendolyn Rogers, of avoiding compliance with the Florida Minimum Wage Act.
The complaint from Pope alleges that, despite relying on tips as an hourly employee, she did “excessive amounts of side work” where she was not being paid tips. This side work, Pope named in the court records, includes stocking drinks, washing and putting away dishes, wiping menus, putting up chairs, mopping, sweeping, taking down LED lamps on tables and charging them, polishing silverware, changing table cloths, and more.
The complaint from Pope states: “Rather than being ‘occasional,’ the side work that Plaintiff was required to undertake occupied substantial discrete and insular periods of the Plaintiff’s workday. Plaintiff was required to work for substantial periods of time before Plaintiff’s tip-producing shift began. Plaintiff was additionally required to work for substantial periods of time after Plaintiff’s shift concluded. Plaintiff had sustained periods of time during shifts where only side work tasks were being performed.”
When WDWNT first reported on the lawsuit in February, Angie Daniel, Vice President of The Cake Bake Shop, issued the following statement to WDWNT:
“We remain firmly committed to our team members, who are the foundation of our organization. We take great pride in their professionalism, dedication, and the care they bring to their work each day. We are equally committed to fostering a respectful, positive workplace where every member of our team feels supported and has the opportunity to thrive.”
A new Reddit thread discussing the lawsuit also included firsthand reports from former employees, including one that shared their experiences as part of the opening team.
According to the commenter, “I was on the opening team as a host. When we opened we were all part of a big shared tip pool, so for the first few weeks we were making upwards of $21 an hour; after Christmas the tip pool was removed and we were dropped to $13 an hour. Gwendolyn herself used to sit at her home in Golden Oak and watch us on the security cameras, phoning managers whenever she saw something she didn’t like, instead of being there in person. Horrible environment, ownership rotten to the core. She was so proud of being a woman-owned business, which is great for sure, but I don’t think it’s very girlboss to exploit and underpay workers in the name of recovering the deposit to your mansion.”
Other commenters on the thread shared their opinions with the restaurant, most notably the high-end prices for the experience in light of these labor allegations. This was followed by another former employee commenting to share their similar experience, “What’s the statute of limitations on this? All of the things described here were all things I had to do while waiting tables for $2.65 an hour years ago. Even had to pay for my uniform and shoes like this. A 6 hour shift was 3 hours of waiting tables (5-8) and 3 hours of other work (4-5 and 8-10). I just thought that was normal.”
The Cake Bake Shop is a third-party company that operates independently of Walt Disney World. This means it is solely responsible for its own employment practices, policies, and legal obligations. Any litigation involving the company, including labor and wage disputes, is handled directly by the business itself rather than Walt Disney World.
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This isn’t the first third-party company operating at Walt Disney World to be accused of poor labor practices. Earlier this month, employees at Patina Restaurant Group locations at Walt Disney World publicly urged Disney to stop granting the company new contracts, citing allegations of poor labor conditions, including low wages and retirement benefits.
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