Downtown Sporting Club, a popular honky-tonk in the heart of Nashville's Lower Broadway, is violating federal labor laws and siphoning tip money away from its servers, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday.

Former Downtown Sporting Club employees Hayden Smith and James D. Meadows brought the suit, which seeks back pay for them and dozens of other servers and bartenders at the establishment.

The lawsuit claims the four-floor complex known for mixing ax throwing with sit-down dining used a "tip-pooling scheme" that pulled tip money from servers and bartenders and routed it to other employees "who had no interaction with customers."

The suit further claims that servers and bartenders were forced to spend more than 20% of their shifts doing side chores that kept them from earning tips while they were paid a rate lower than minimum wage that is supposed to be offset by tips.

Nashville law firm Barrett Johnston Martin & Garrison is representing Smith and Meadows. Lead counsel Josh Frank said Downtown Sporting Club had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Unfortunately, servers and bar tenders’ wage rights are often violated by their employers,” Frank said in a statement. “While downtown Nashville is booming, workers here should be paid fairly and legally – and we believe that’s not happening for the servers and bar tenders in many well-traveled downtown establishments."

Downtown Sporting Club is owned and operated by Strategic Hospitality, the powerhouse company owned by brothers Benjamin and Max Goldberg. Other restaurants and bars in the company's portfolio include The Patterson House, Henrietta Red and Pinewood Social.

A spokesperson for Strategic Hospitality did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and atamburin@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter @tamburintweets.