A Connecticut Superior Court judge has said class certification of lawsuits over “side work” from restaurant employees is appropriate, even under new rules from the state Legislature that some employment attorneys have seen as anti-worker.

“This is definitely precedent-setting. This is the first case to interpret and apply the January 2020 amendment to the Connecticut Wage Act, which Gov. Ned Lamont and [then-House Speaker] Joe Aresimowicz passed seeking to deny minimum wage workers the right to sue in wage class actions,” said Richard Hayber, who represents restaurant servers in Chandler v. Ruby Tuesday.