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Court: Starbucks has no grounds to let supervisors share in barista tips

A federal appeals court ruled today Starbucks owes Massachusetts baristas more than $14 million for tips that were shared with supervisors between 2005 and 2011, because state law bars managers from dipping into the tip jar.

Starbucks tried to pour cold water on a class-action suit on behalf of more than 11,000 former and current baristas by arguing that "shift supervisors" weren't really managers because they mostly did the same work as baristas and so were entitled to the perk of sharing in pooled tips collected from customers.

But in a scalding decision, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston told Starbucks that the Massachusetts tip law is about as explicit as can be that managers are not allowed to share in tips and that shift supervisors are, indeed, managers:

The Tips Act states unequivocally that only employees who possess "no managerial responsibility" may qualify as "wait staff." Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, § 152A(a). "[N]o" means "no," and we interpret that easily understood word in its ordinary sense: "not any." Merriam- Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 839 (11th ed. 2003); The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 1192 (4th ed. 2000); The Random House Dictionary of the English Language 1303 (2d ed. 1987). ...

Unless we are prepared to ignore both the legislature's use of the word "no" and the commonly accepted meaning of that word — and we are not — it follows that if an employee has any managerial responsibility, she does not qualify as "wait staff" eligible to participate in tips pools under the provisions of the Tips Act.

The court also rejected Starbucks' argument that the money left by customers to express satisfaction with service did not constitute tips. That's just a latte nonsense, the court said.

The court did hand Starbucks a small victory: It ruled the workers were only entitled to triple damages for tips after 2008 - when the state tip law was amended to require trebling of damages. Previously, plaintiffs had to prove "outrageous" behavior warranted that:

We do not read the Massachusetts cases as requiring treble damages under the earlier version of the Wage Act whenever some hint of outrageousness exists. Outrageousness is often a matter of degree. Most people would think that bilking a widow out of her life's savings is outrageous; some would think that charging $5.25 for a salted caramel mocha frappuccino is outrageous. But everyone would agree that the two acts are qualitatively different, and are not deserving of the same level of opprobrium.

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Comments

Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts should get rid of the tip jar. I hope they are required to pay their employees like regular workers and not restaurant-minimum wage, because they are not wait-staff. Tipping makes about as much sense as tipping the person who rings up your groceries or cashes your check at the bank. This is not meant to trash the nice people at Starbucks, just the policy that their pay should be based on the kindness of strangers.

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There is a lot more going on at the espresso machine to make your half non-fat, half soy mocha caramel macchiato double whip with Splenda just right than someone bagging groceries. Sure, they aren't doing much more than McDonalds line cooks and we don't tip them, but your examples don't quite gel in my mind.

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your grocer or checkout person deserves a tip (especially around the holidays) for a good attitude, good service, good job.

They're being paid serf wages, and anyone that's worked one of those jobs before knows how shitty and draining they can be.

As for Starbucks. If you're giving people managerial work, you need to pay them as such. $10K bet they want it one way, but not the other: These floor managers as probably overtime exempt and they want to make up their lower wages with tips so they stick around.

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My mother raised my siblings and I on such tips. Yes they make a regular wage but try raising a family on it.

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