Even though the potential award for a restaurant server is relatively small at about $12,000, the attorneys who went to bat for Valarie Nettleton in her lawsuit against a Denny’s restaurant operator said the judge’s ruling in her favor is a major boost for Connecticut plaintiffs.

“This ruling strengthens the ability of employment attorneys to help restaurant workers recover back wages that have been denied them. This is definitely a ruling employment attorneys will be looking at,” said Rick Hayber, of Hayber, McKenna & Dinsmore in Hartford.