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Lawsuits against restaurants, hotels, and other employers for tip-related violations, on behalf of waitstaff and other tipped employees
For the last seven years, we have represented hundreds of servers in dozens of lawsuits against restaurants, hotels, and other establishments for depriving servers of the full proceeds of customer tips or service charges. We have obtained more than a dozen court-approved class action settlements on behalf of waitstaff, and we have won many of these cases on summary judgment. We have also won jury verdicts in three of the first tips cases to go to trial, on behalf of skycaps at Logan Airport, function servers at the Hilltop Steak House, and waiters at the Federalist restaurant. For a sample of our tips cases, see the links below. Fenway barkeep seeks help with tips lawsuit Fenway bartender seeks Sox support on tips Jin Workers Win Class Settlement for Stolen Tips Cape employer sued over tips Firm seeks class action tips suit against Pier 4 Quincy siblings sue restaurant chain: Say Ruth’s Chris Steak House underpaid for non-tip producing work Arbitrator certifies national class of servers against Morton’s of Chicago in case alleging tip credit violations Suit says Ritz illegally keeps some tip money Wave of tip pooling lawsuits snares more operators Door opened for retaliation claims Four fired servers win lawsuit against Hilltop restaurant Steak house may be liable for $2.5m Atlanta waiters sue: tip-sharing to fund restaurant’s “incidental labor fund” Lawsuits filed by wait staff over tips Massachusetts State Law Allows a $25,000 Civil Penalty for Restaurateurs who Violate the Tip Law Beverly Cooney et al. v. Compass Group Foodservice, et al., 69 Mass.App.Ct. 632 (2007) (Appeals Court held that servers were entitled as a matter of law to receive proceeds of service charges added to function bills at Northeastern University’s Henderson House conference center, reversing lower court’s ruling that case presented fact issue for trial) Don DiFiore et al. v. American Airlines, Inc., 483 F.Supp.2d 121 (D.Mass. 2007) (skycaps’ claim that airline’s $2 baggage charge interfered with their tips was not preempted by Airline Deregulation Act, and employees could pursue claim under state tips law and common law) Manuel Fernandez et al. v. Four Seasons Hotel, Inc., (Suffolk Superior Court 2007) (court granted summary judgment in favor of plaintiff servers, holding that hotel’s distribution of a portion of banquet service charges to managers violated Massachusetts tips law) Paul Shea et al. v. Weston Golf Club, (Middlesex Superior Court 2007) (court granted summary judgment in favor of plaintiff servers, holding that private club’s failure to distribute to servers revenues listed as service charges on members’ bills violated Massachusetts tips law) Samantha Smith et al. v. Winter Place LLC d/b/a Locke-Ober Co., Inc., 447 Mass. 363 (2006) (Supreme Judicial Court held that employees are engaged in protected activity, and cannot be retaliated against, when they complain about alleged wage violations, even if they do not raise these complaints with the Attorney General) Michalak et al. v. Boston Palm Corporation, 2004 WL 2915452 (court granted summary judgment in favor of plaintiff servers, holding that distribution of portions of function service charge to catering manager and kitchen staff violated Massachusetts tips law) Williamson et al. v. DT Management Co. d/b/a Boston Harbor Hotel, Inc., 2004 WL 1050582 (court held that hotel violated Massachusetts tips law by distributing portions of service charges to managers, assistant managers, and catering coordinators)
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Shannon Liss-Riordan & Hillary Schwab in a recent Boston Business Journal profile Skycaps and waiters find a legal champion (front page) Attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan: Challenging Corporate Power and Tips Abuse The Champion of Skycaps, Waitresses and Delivery Drivers
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