Wait Staff Wins Suit Over Restaurant Tips

A restaurant may have to pay its wait staff more than $2.5 million after a State Court jury found that the restaurant illegally funneled tips to managers. The jury also found that the restaurant wrongly fired four waitresses who complained about losing a percentage of their tips. The case was the first of 19 �tip cases� to go to trial in that particular state after the state legislature amended the law in 2002 to state that waitresses, waiters and bartenders aren�t legally required to share tips with kitchen staff or managers. The law bars restaurant owners from distributing tip money to other employees, including managers, even if they also serve food and beverages. A lawyer for the restaurant wait staff said in some cases the wait staff received 14% of the 18% gratuity, with the remainder going to managers. �These waitresses made $3.60 an hour plus a gratuity,� said their attorney. �But the manager�s who were getting their money were making several hundred dollars a week.� The jury awarded $125,000 to each of three plaintiffs, and $75,000 to a fourth. It also found the harm suffered by the waitresses merited the tripling to $610,000 in damages. Of that, $160,000 will be shared by a class certified by the Court. With the addition of attorney fees and interest, the final judgment is expected to increase beyond $2.5 million.