Although it may have intended for a customer charge to be treated as an administrative overhead fee separate from gratuities paid to its employees, a country club’s reference to the amount as a “service charge” in some documents necessarily required that the amount retained be paid to the employees, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

Brian E. Lewis
Brian E. Lewis is a principal in the Boston, Massachusetts, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He exclusively represents management in all facets of workplace law.
Brian routinely advises clients regarding day-to-day employment issues, such as employee discipline and discharge, disability management issues, proper payment of wages, reductions in force, and restrictive covenants. Brian also has experience in representing clients on traditional labor law issues and has appeared before the National Labor Relations Board. He also regularly conducts training programs for employers on a variety of employment-related topics, and is a regular speaker at industry seminars on labor and employment law issues.
Brian has extensive experience representing employers in all types of employment litigation matters, such as claims alleging employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, sexual harassment, and failure to pay wages. Brian also has litigated numerous wage and hour law cases. Specifically, Brian has advised and defended companies in class actions alleging violations of state wage law and collective actions alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Brian also advises companies on state and federal prevailing wage law and defends companies in audits conducted by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and other agencies.
Brian regularly litigates in both state and federal court, as well as before various governmental agencies, including the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the United States Department of Labor, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.