Joining several other recent federal court decisions, including a decision invalidating recently promulgated Department of Labor regulations purporting to address the issue, Judge Ted Stewart of the District of Utah has ruled that an employee has no claim for allegedly misappropriated gratuities under the FLSA unless the employer elected to take the tip credit

As discussed in greater detail here, the Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that gratuities received by night club employees were “wages” within the meaning of Minnesota’s law prohibiting deductions, and thus an employer violated that law when it required employees to pay for “register shortages . . . walkouts . . . [and] unsigned

On May 28, 2013, New York’s highest state court, the New York Court of Appeals, will hear oral argument regarding the scope and application of New York Labor Law 196-d and its tip splitting provisions to Starbucks’ tip pooling practices. The court’s analysis of these issues, which came to the court as certified questions from

In a case defended by Jackson Lewis Wage Hour Practice Group Chair and former Wage and Hour Administrator Paul DeCamp, Judge Theresa Springmann of the Northern District of Indiana on Tuesday dismissed claims brought by a former server employed by an Indiana-based Applebee’s operator alleging the restaurant was not entitled to avail itself of

In a decision sure to attract attention within the New York hospitality industry, Judge Alison J. Nathan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in a case of first impression that deducting the full amount of service fees charged by internet food delivery sites (including popular web

The FLSA regulates tip pool participation by limiting pool participants to employees who are “customarily and regularly tipped” as set forth in DOL guidance and interpreted by the courts. While the role of different positions in the service process (going to the question of whether they are “customarily and regularly” tipped) can be hotly contested, the

The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has ruled that under Massachusetts’ unique tip statute, shift supervisors cannot participate in the tip jar-based tip pool in Massachusetts locations. Matamoros v. Starbucks Corp., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 23185 (1st Cir. Nov. 9, 2012). Several years ago, a California Appeal Court ruled just the opposite