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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 eight years, we have represented thousands 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 twenty 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. Following our pioneering work developing the law protecting tipped employees in Massachusetts, we have begun similar efforts, bringing cases on behalf of tipped employees in other states, including Hawaii, Florida, New York, and Maine. We have also brought national cases against restaurant chains such as Ruth's Chris Steak House and Morton's Restaurant Group. If you have worked as a tipped employee anywhere in the country, and have been required to share your tips with management or non-service employees, feel free to contact us for a consultation. For some of our tips cases in the news, see the links below: Cliff House server sues over alleged tip skimming Starwood waiters add competition claims to tip suit Hard Rock Cafe rocked by FLSA action over tips Boston Duck Tours hit with Wage Act suit High court paves way for tips lawsuit to proceed Maggiano's, Hard Rock sued over tipping practices Calif. ruling doesn't slow Starbucks tips suit Strippers come out on top in misclassification action Stripped by the boss Judge upholds strippers' pay suit Waiter sues Boston steakhouse Lawsuit on tipping goes to higher court N.Y. baristas want class cert. in tips spat Lawsuit filed over hotel's alleged tipping practices Waiters at Maui Westin sue over tips Hawaii hotels face lawsuits over service fees Suit alleges hotels short-changed servers Waiters sue hoteliers over tips A business tip: Keep hands off gratuities Jin Workers Win Class Settlement for Stolen Tips N.Y. barista is latest to sue Starbucks over tips Cape employer sued over tips Starbucks supervisors accused of skimming tips from baristas Starbucks hit with class action lawsuit over tips Starbucks sued again over tip pools Firm seeks class action tips suit against Pier 4 Click Here for News Prior to 2008 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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