Posted on 03/21/2008 6:49:28 AM PDT by shrinkermd
In a San Diego County class-action lawsuit, a judge ordered the coffee giant to pay back tips, with interest, that the company had handed over to shift supervisors. Some baristas (coffee servers) could receive more than $10,000, according to their attorney.
The ruling was met with cheers by California baristas. "I'm stoked," said Leekeisha Smith, who makes coffee drinks in the Starbucks at Sunset Boulevard and La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles.
"Wow. I'm just shocked that we'll get that [money] back." Smith, 23, said she found out about the lawsuit from a letter sent to employees.
Starbucks Corp. said it was outraged and vowed to appeal. In a statement, the company said the decision "is not only contrary to law, it is fundamentally unfair and beyond all common sense and reason."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
NICE GUY EDDIE C'mon, throw in a buck. MR. WHITE Uh-uh. I don't tip. NICE GUY EDDIE Whaddaya mean you don't tip? MR. WHITE I don't believe in it. NICE GUY EDDIE You don't believe in tipping? MR. PINK (laughing) I love this kid, he's a madman, this guy. MR. BLONDE Do you have any idea what these ladies make? They make s***. MR. WHITE Don't give me that. She don't make enough money, she can quit. Everybody laughs. NICE GUY EDDIE I don't even know a Jew who'd have the balls to say that. So let's get this straight. You never ever tip? MR. WHITE I don't tip because society says I gotta. I tip when somebody deserves a tip. When somebody really puts forth an effort, they deserve a little something extra. But this tipping automatically, that s***'s for the birds. As far as I'm concerned, they're just doin their job. MR. BLUE Our girl was nice. MR. WHITE Our girl was okay. She didn't do anything special. MR. BLONDE What's something special, take ya in the kitchen and **** your ****? They all laugh. NICE GUY EDDIE I'd go over twelve percent for that. MR. WRITE Look, I ordered coffee. Now we've been here a long f***** time, and she's only filled my cup three times. When I order coffee, I want it filled six times. MR. BLONDE What if she's too busy? MR. WHITE The words "too busy" shouldn't be in a waitress's vocabulary. NICE GUY EDDIE Excuse me, Mr. White, but the last thing you need is another cup of coffee. They all laugh. MR. WHITE These ladies aren't starvin to death. They make minimum wage. When I worked for minimum wage, I wasn't lucky enough to have a job that society deemed tipworthy. NICE GUY EDDIE Ahh, now we're getting down to it. It's not just that he's a cheap b******-- MR. ORANGE --It is that too-- NICE GUY EDDIE --It is that too. But it's also he couldn't get a waiter job. You talk like a pissed off dishwasher: MR. BLONDE So you don't care that they're counting on your tip to live? Mr. White rubs two of his fingers together. MR. WHITE Do you know what this is? It's the world's smallest violin, playing just for the waitresses. MR. BLONDE You don't have any idea what you're talking about. These people bust their a**. This is a hard job. MR. WHITE So's working at McDonald's, but you don't feel the need to tip them. They're servin ya food, you should tip em. But no, society says tip these guys over here, but not those guys over there. That's bull***t. MR. ORANGE They work harder than the kids at McDonald's. MR. WHITE Oh yeah, I don't see them cleaning fryers. MR. BROWN These people are taxed on the tips they make. When you stiff 'em, you cost them money. MR. BLONDE Waitressing is the number one occupation for female non-college graduates in this country. It's the one jab basically any woman can get, and make a living on. The reason is because of tips. MR. WHITE ***k all that. They all laugh. MR. WHITE Hey, I'm very sorry that the government taxes their tips. That's ***ked up. But that ain't my fault. it would appear that waitresses are just one of the many groups the government ***ks in the a** on a regular basis. You show me a paper says the government shouldn't do that, I'll sign it. Put it to a vote, I'll vote for it. But what I won't do is play ball. And this non- college bull***t you're telling me, I got two words for that: "Learn to ****n type." Cause if you're expecting me to help out with the rent, you're in for a big f****n surprise. MR. ORANGE He's convinced me. Give me my dollar back. Everybody laughs. Joe's comes back to the table. JOE Okay ramblers, let's get to rambling. Wait a minute, who didn't throw in? MR. ORANGE Mr. White. JOE (to Mr. Orange) Mr. White? (to Mr. White) Why? MR. ORANGE He don't tip. JOE (to Mr. Orange) He don't tip? (to Mr. White) You don't tip? Why? MR. ORANGE He don't believe in it. JOE (to Mr. Orange) He don't believe in it? (to Mr. White) You don't believe in it? MR. ORANGE Nope. JOE (to Mr. Orange) Shut up! (to Mr. White) Cough up the buck, ya cheap bastard, I paid for your goddamn breakfast. MR. WHITE Because you paid for the breakfast, I'm gonna tip. Normally I wouldn't. JOE Whatever. Just throw in your dollar, and let's move.
....the coffee has just turned cold/rancid. :)
Cowett's ruling said Starbucks' practice was a violation of a state law that prohibits managers and supervisors from sharing in employee tips.
So the law says that supervisors can't dip into the tip jar and the judge ruled that Starbucks broke the law and had to put the money back. That's the way a judge is supposed to work.
The article didn't state whether the $100 million was the amount actually skimmed, if it was some penalty stated in the law for when tip money is taken by the boss, or if it was just made up by the judge.
I have always thought the TIPS I left belonged to the server. The whole idea of TIPS seems to rely on paying for superior service.
If the server doesn’t receive them, it seems wrong to me. That is not say it is illegal.
I’ve never gotten the idea behind tipping for counter service.
I hope to see the day when we do away with tips entirely. Even if wait staff is allowed to earn minimum wage, I do not see it as raising the overall price of eating out, as instead of us adding a tip at the end of the meal, we'd just pay the same amount more in the cost of the food.
In a restaurant (as opposed to a Starbucks) tips are usually shared between the wait staff, food runners, bus persons and bartenders. Occasionally hostesses are included. The formulas and percentages vary from one establishment to another but typically 20-40% of the tips go to the support staff.
There are some state laws regulating what control management has over tips. Normally anyone in a supervisory position is prohibited from taking a piece of the pie. Abuses are rampant especially where the staff may be younger or less experienced. Kickbacks to managers may get you a better schedule, section, and customers. Don’t forget, in many places a waiter can earn a lot more than the manager.
When I first worked as a waiter, I learned that the business establishment paid waiters one-half minimum wage. And, from that stipend, money was deducted for medicare, income tax withholding, and social security. So, that revenue stream was practically non-existent.
What the waiter was supposed to be recompensed with was tips, the theory being that a good waiter would attract good tips, an idea that had some demonstrable merit.
As to distribution of tips, that depends on the business establishment. One which I worked for had this arrangement:
Each waiter had a number of tables assigned to him, which were also serviced by a cocktail waitress and a busboy. Out of tips paid to the waiter, the waiter paid the cocktail waitress (who was not supposed to be getting tipped) 10 percent of the drink portion of the final tab. The waiter also had to pay out 3 percent of the non-drink tab to the busboy.
So, if the waiter were stiffed by a table (i.e. no tip), he would actually lose money, because he was obligated to pay out the cut to the cocktail waitress and the busboy, even if he got no tip.
When all of G-d's baristas will be judged not by the amount of their tips but by the content of their service
I have a dream!
When all of G-d's baristas will be judged not by the amount of their tips but by the content of their service
I have a dream!
I knew a person who went to work for a restaurant chain where they were required to kick back a percentage of the total bill, in cash, to supervisors regardless of the tip amount. They didn’t stay at the job for long. The restaurant chain later got in trouble similar to that of the Starbucks chain.
No one in a supervisory position should share in tip money. I could see others who provide service at the table sharing in tips since their performance may have a direct bearing on the amount of the tip. The “gratuity” should never be added to the bill by the restaurant although this seems to be a common practice.
All this started with the introduction of the tip jar. I’m in the the food business and many of my family have made a living as wait-persons (Jeez, I hate that word). I believe in tipping, while at the same time I don’t believe in anyone other than me determining what percentage or how much. Also, the tip is for the person that served me and should not be shared with anyone else who didn’t. If I want to leave extra for extra good service I don’t want my gift diluted by being distributed to everybody else on the staff. If the wait-person wants to share with someone else who helped them, so be it. I also don’t tip “counter help” just because they call themselves “baristas”.
The article didn't state whether the $100 million was the amount actually skimmed,
If they didn't have records, the amount was calculated. The $100M included intrest. The commie probably calculated that on the total sum since day one.
It's starbucks. The supervisor is usually the high school student that's least likely to give everything away free to their friends, poison the customers, or take off and leave the place open to looters.
Sales manager's override? Just saying it's not really a question of morality, but negotiation between employee and management.
I fired a manager for that very thing. The way it worked where I as at when it came to the Wait staff was that seniority allowed you to pick your schedule, drawing lots for sections, Tips were put into a lock box (1 for each Wait), this prevented them from making change from the tips (and padding checks, a BIG no-no), and they tipped the Bar and Bus at the end of the night. We recommended, but NEVER required tip sharing with Bar and Bus.
We had a good system.
Then they are not Supervisors.
How many of the tip jars are there just so employers can claim the counter help are tipped employees and pay them that lower minimum wage instead of the minimum for non-tipped employees ($2.13/hour instead of $5.85/hour currently)?
I never fill the tip jar. Tips are for table service, not just running the register and filling an order.
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