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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