Posted on 11/10/2004 12:29:27 PM PST by billorites
A $2 tip on a $77 restaurant bill may be cheap, but it isn’t criminal. So says a New York state district attorney, who declined to press charges against a man who refused to leave a restaurant’s required gratuity of 18 percent for large parties.
Humberto A. Taveras’ arrest on Sept. 5 came under New York’s theft of services law, which carries misdemeanor charges. With a party of eight, the Long Island man dined at Soprano’s Italian and American Grill, a Lake George, N.Y., restaurant that applied the tip policy to parties of six or more.
(Ironically, The Sopranos, HBO’s television series, had a recent episode involving a dispute over a gratuity for a large party of mobsters. That dispute ended in the macabre, with the waiter being killed in the argument.)
Ultimately, the case boiled down to language. Soprano’s restaurant described the policy on its menu as a "gratuity," which by definition means "discretion," says Kathleen B. Hogan, the district attorney of Warren County, who ultimately decided to drop charges against Taveras.
She mentions a Southern District of Indiana ruling in which a judge found that a tip or gratuity was strictly within the customer’s discretion and payment could not be forced. U.S. v. Indianapolis Athletic Club, IP90-1783C.
Had the service been written as a surcharge rather than a gratuity, Hogan probably would have prosecuted the case.
"It really did turn on the word," she says, adding that under restaurant policy, the tip should have been nearly $14. "It’s not like they didn’t leave any tip. They just left a smaller tip than you would want."
That’s for sure, say attorneys who represent the restaurant industry. On average, those interviewed for this article say they tip at least 20 percent.
"The whole reason so many restaurants do have notice is because this historically is a problem," says R. Rogge Dunn, a Dallas lawyer and former pizza restaurant assistant manager. "You get a large group that splits the tab, and some people are chintzy on the amount they’re going to leave."
Al DeNapoli, a Boston lawyer who represents the hospitality industry, says this is the first time he’s heard of someone being arrested for poor tipping.
"I’m surprised it was pushed this far, but there are people who are bad tippers all the time," he says. "Whether this is the case here, I don’t know."
Hogan says Taveras was unhappy with the service and said it did not warrant an 18 percent tip.
DeNapoli, who waited tables as a law student, says that not tipping, even when service is bad, may not be the best solution for disgruntled diners. Servers’ salaries depend on tips, he says, and they often share the money with busboys and dishwashers. Instead, DeNapoli advises you to speak with management about the situation or to "talk with your feet" and stop patronizing the restaurant.
Having someone arrested for poor tipping may also not be the best solution, even if it’s a fantasy scenario of many servers.
"You might have a decent civil suit against them, but whatever you would win in that case would be far outweighed by the adverse publicity," Dunn says. "My advice would be to look at the bottom line, and let it go."
Lake George is a resort town, and according to Hogan—herself a former waitress who always tips 20 percent—the publicity they’ve received from the incident concerns many restaurant owners there. Some of them, she says, changed their language from "mandatory gratuity" to "service charge" on large party bills.
"They want to make sure their employees are getting compensation," Hogan adds, "and make sure they’re following what obviously is the law in a federal case."
>>Bottom line tip or keep your sorry self at the house.<<
Please post the name and location of your place so we can all avoid it. I would NEVER let anyone I am going to pay money to talk to me that way.
Sure! Then don't complain when a 10oz Prime Rib costs 50 bucks.
"Sure! Then don't complain when a 10oz Prime Rib costs 50 bucks."
If you're charging $41.68 for a 10oz now, you're allready not getting my business.
True ... (I've visited Australia), but in actual practice there's sort of a "however, tips are appreciated" attitude prevalent as well.
"If you're charging $41.68 for a 10oz now, you're allready not getting my business."
Nope, we charge 18 bucks, but it'll be about 50 after raising the entire waitstaff's pay to at least poverty level. (We have a large waitstaff)
Reading your post, not just the excerpt above ... how the hell does someone like you stay in the restaurant business? Your response is phony ... unless, of course, you own a diner in Brooklyn, or somewhere in northern NJ.
"Nope, we charge 18 bucks, but it'll be about 50 after raising the entire waitstaff's pay to at least poverty level."
So to reach poverty level you expect your customers to tip 177% ?
In order to give a waitstaff of 20 a payraise of 380%, it will require substantially raising prices
"In order to give a waitstaff of 20 a payraise of 380%, it will require substantially raising prices...
But you are expecting ( hoping ? Praying ? ) that your customers will fill that subsantial gap for them -
Gee, not like it could be considered YOUR responsibility to make sure your employees are adequately compensated for the work they perform for YOU.
Sorry Sally, you had a cheap customer, tell you what, next time he comes in tell him he's a cheap bastard and to take a hike - that'll get your rent paid ...
Listen, I am not an owner or a manager. I'm a student waiting tables trying to get myself through college. I do not "work" for the owner of my restaurant. For lack of a better comparison, I'm like a prostitute. The owner gives me a group of tables and I work them, essentially working for my customers, for money. They tip me depending on how I performed (which is perfectly fine) and I go home with money i earned. What I've been trying to say all night is that people need to go into restaurants with it in their head that the server may have had an awful day. I lost my best friend last year and still had to put on a smile for the customers the next day. I'm not excusing all bad service, but too often restaurant patrons do not have common human courtesy for waitstaff. To be quite honest, the tipping method is quite efficient and if you don't like it (in most cases, if you're a cheap-a**) don't eat out.
Yea, but that's okay. I sold you an empty can of oil to make up for it. Remember, I told you your oil was low.
I applaud your initiative and drive - but the concept of a person owning a good restaurant, and expecting people to essentially volunteer to handle the REQUIRED jobs of taking orders, serving, and clearing in the hopes of getting adequate tips is strange.
It's not like those are optional parts of the functions a restaurant MUST provide.
This is why litigation reform is needed. That anyone even begins to think that you could think of taking a case like this into court is scary.
No my response is real world, not a libertarian BS circle jerk response. I live in the real world and in the real world you get what you pay for. Want everything for nothing? Then buy a good book and pretend it's real.
Try $15 for a martini and $8 for a beer.
Exactly. People really need to consider 15-20% extra to be part of the cost of dining.
As my waitress ex-girlfriend said, a good tip and a good attitude from a customer ensures no spit or other bodily fluid in that customer's food.
Think about that the next time you decide to not tip a waitress at your regular restaurant.
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