Bravo TV location Republic Garden & Lounge (as seen on Southern Hospitality) is at the center of a new lawsuit filed in federal court regarding an “unlawful tip pool.”
According to reports from PostAndCourier.com, former Republic bartender, Angelica Alberti, accused Leva and Lamar Bonaparte‘s establishment of operating an illegal tip pool in a lawsuit. Angelica worked at the restaurant/nightclub for about six months in 2025. The claims against Republic were made on behalf of herself and a “collective” of other bartenders employed over the past three years.
Tip pools, in which employees combine tips to be shared evenly, and tip credits, where a business uses a portion of tips to fulfill its minimum wage mandate, are both legal in South Carolina.
Restaurant and bar owners are prohibited “from keeping any portion of employees’ tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool,” federal law states. Employers must notify staff of tip pooling and crediting systems and fully distribute all collected tips.
Republic failed to uphold some of these practices, as claimed in the lawsuit. An attorney for Republic’s restaurant group denied those claims.
Lamar Bonaparte is listed as the registered agent for Republic Reign LLC in the lawsuit. Angelica worked 30 hours per week throughout her employment and was paid $2.13 per hour plus tips. The same structure applied to all bartenders, according to the suit.
Angelica and her attorney allege a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Bartenders were required to share a portion of their tips with managers or supervisors. Republic also failed to notify bartenders of the tip credit system they had to be a part of. Tips were subject to a credit card tip fee or similar deduction retained by the business.
So, Republic bartenders were paid a direct cash wage of less than minimum wage, the lawsuit said. “Absent proper tip-credit notice, the Defendant was not eligible to take a tip credit for any hours worked by Plaintiff or other Bartenders. This entitled them to the full federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for each such hour.”
Attorney Nancy Bloodgood, who represents Republic, said she reviewed Angelica’s allegations a few months ago and found them “baseless.” Angelica was terminated for cause. She “has been paid all the wages she was entitled to at the time of her termination.”
Angelica and unnamed participating bartenders are seeking recovery of all tips redistributed to ineligible participants, including managers and supervisors. They are also seeking to recover missed federal minimum wages and “unlawfully retained tips.”
