In cases challenging participation of food service workers other than the quintessential roles with which most diners are familiar (e.g., server/waiter, busboy, etc.) in tip sharing/pooling/splitting arrangements, some courts focus on whether  the position lacked sufficient direct customer interaction to warrant receipt of tips.  See generally Kilgore v. Outback Steakhouse, 160 F.3d

Employers who maintain a tip pool are likely aware that, depending on the employer’s state of operation and prevailing law, such a tip pool typically can consist only employees who are both “customarily and regularly” tipped and who are not themselves “employers” or those with employer authority. Last year, we discussed a court’s recognition of the