Great article by @matthewkang!
Seems like a legal gray area, though with the Marriott Hotel ruling maybe it’s not anymore? I wish state and federal law would catch up, treating these like tips and protecting employees, front and back of house, against wage theft by owners.
Again, no idea the merits of the case, though Liss-Riordan tends to hunt big game.
Interesting Insta post regardless…
https://www.instagram.com/p/C22cnmALZ_T/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Seems weird she would take a case like this against a fairly small fish (compared to top tier tech startups). I wonder if it’s an effort to clear up this gray area and establish a precedent. My guess is if they hit class action status some kind of industry association with join in on the other side and try to hash out the law here. Although she is representing the plaintiffs in the Jon & Vinny case (which seems scummier) so it may be case of it being less additional effort to take this case on as well.
Otherwise based on the Eater article is seems like the restaurants are doing what I would want them to do with a service charge based on their public statements and policy. If there’s nothing untoward in their execution of that policy, this kinda feels like sour grapes from a server who’d rather be getting all the service charge at the expense of “non-service employees” AKA back of house. If you take Last Word Hospitality’s statement at face value management doesn’t get a cut and 100% goes to FOH and BOH and their benefits with none to base wages. That seems fair to me and allows FOH and BOH to get variable compensation that reflects how well the business is doing.
I don’t disagree about FOH/BOH equity. And maybe too cyncial, but my default is not to take much at face value. Not saying you are doing that btw. Without reading the complaint, it’s hard to comment on what’s actually alleged. But of course there’s a reddit thread with unsourced hearsay.
My assumption here is that if it was as simply as salaried employees or the business taking a cut or they were directing some of it to base pay, that would be easy to uncover during discovery and other than them using a really weird definition of BOH/FOH it wouldn’t be that complicated a case. They’d be lying publicly about what they were doing with the money. So more that it’s weird that a higher profile lawyer would take the case and what motivation would they have to do so.
If Liss-Riordan prevails in this lawsuit, she could file more against other restaurant groups. So it could eventually be a lot of money.
Starting in 2001, Liss-Riordan began a string of more 40 cases representing waitstaff challenging their employers for taking a share of their tips. This line of cases developed a previously unused 1952 Massachusetts law protecting tipped employees and resulted in verdicts against the Hilltop Steak House, the Federalist restaurant, and other settlements including against the Four Seasons Hotel, the Weston Golf Club, Northeastern University, the Palm, Ruth’s Chris, and Starbucks. She then sued establishments in other states and won victories and settlements in New York, Florida, Hawaii, and California.
Respectfully, I’m not sure I follow. Maybe I misunderstand the details, but isn’t what you describe for Last Word - managers and owners receiving service charges - almost identical to what’s alleged in the Jon and Vinny’s case, which Liss Riordan has taken on?
*I don’t have access to legal complaints but if someone on here pays for that, the complaint prob clarifies the allegations.
*And as @robert implies, it’s also good for her profile and pockets, should she want to run for office again.
The Eater article says:
The suit hinges on four points: whether funds collected from the restaurant service fees constitute gratuities; whether the company failed to distribute the total proceeds; if Last Word retained a portion of the fees; and whether the company retained a portion to pay managers or other non-service employees.
If service fees constitute gratuities, then per California law they should have been distributed in their entirety to employees in the chain of service, just like tips. If she can persuade the court or jury to buy that argument, I think that would mean that every restaurant that has used a service charge to pay for health insurance or maybe given a share to back of house staff was breaking the law.
IANAL, and agree it’s nuanced. From a purely external view the way the two organizations describe their policy is different enough that the Jon and Vinny case seems way more ambiguous and challenging vs the Last Word org which you could presumably win on them just not following their publicly stated policy
Jon and Vinny: “A service charge of 18% is added to your final check. The charge is not a tip or gratuity, and is an added fee controlled by the restaurant that helps facilitate a higher living base wage for all of our employees.”
Found Oyster: “A 20% service charge will be added to each check to be given in its entirety to the staff for equitable earnings, medical, and retirement benefits.”
"Reached by Eater, Last Word Hospitality co-founder Adam Weisblatt issued the following statement:
Deciding to enact a service charge was an ethical decision of how to run a restaurant that equitably pays staff. We want to create meaningful careers and see this as an important aspect of being good employers. Dishwashers are as important to us as managers. 100 percent of service charges goes to FOH and BOH staff and their benefits. We do not use service charges to pay base wages. The statements on our menu and website and checks are accurate, legal, and transparently shared with the entire staff. We will address the lawsuit with the same good intentions we hold ourselves to in all forms of business."
The Jon and Vinny version is more ambiguous, and explicitly says its not a tip or gratuity, so there’s a lot more room for shenanigans while following the letter of their policy. Seems like a much more interesting case to built a precedent on how service charges are used. Would build upon the decision linked in the Eater article: https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/san-francisco-marriott-tips-18000567.php
To be clear not suggesting that there isn’t something going wrong at Last Word, but more curious why this firm is tackling it. Their policy appears more explicit and easier to hold them accountable for. And it could be exactly what Robert says above where the intent is to get decisions which prevent restaurants from distributing service charges to BOH (or anyone outside the chain of service), which IMO would be a big step backwards in pay equity.
I believe the intent is for the lawyers to make money.
Seems like Jon & Vinny’s statement that “the charge is not a tip or gratuity” pretty much rules out any claim that customers might have thought it was a tip, which was central to the Marriott case.
From everything I’ve read about service charge laws in California, J&Vs statement is meant to comply with the law and is fairly unambiguous. Legally they are required to clarify that a service charge is not a tip or voluntary but a mandatory charge wholly controlled by the restaurant, just like the cost of the meal itself. It’s a lawyerly statement bc J&V realized they have clarify this to customers, that it’s not a tip or voluntary.
And regardless of the language on a check, legally as of now restaurants can disburse service charges however they want. However, wage theft and tip laws prescribe who and where tips go. So apropos the Marriott case, these hinge on whether it’s reasonable to assume a customer understands the service charge is not a tip and therefore doesn’t go to the waitstaff as legally required with a tip.
I don’t think these suits are so much about whether a restaurant, J&Vs or Found, follows their stated policy. Excepting minimum wage, anti discrimination, and tipped wage laws, my understanding is that legally they can do what they want with your money, regardless of what they say. It’s not a legal issue whether they follow their stated policy per se.
But it’s a situation where law hasn’t caught up to current practices. This would all be solved if state or federal law stipulated that service charges can’t go to management or owners. And then there’d be enforcement, just like there is when owners siphon employee tips, which are legally required to go to certain restaurant employees.
If I had to guess, think Liss Riordan wants to argue the distinction btw service charge and tip is nonsensical, even if there’s some statement on the check following the letter of the current law as J&Vs statement. And interpretations differ but I find J&Vs much clearer on the legal issues. And if memory serves, they updated to that specific language on their checks post lawsuit.
*it seems, per @robert’s comment, someone read the Marriott lawsuit and told them they wouldn’t be liable once they added that very specific clarification.
Can read more about the legal claims on the J&Vs suit here…
I don’t think there’s any law requiring that, but it’s a prudent thing to say given the kinds of cases lawyers have been coming up with.
In the Marriott case, seven customers testified that they understood the service charge to be a tip. In 2017 the hotel changed the language to clarify that a portion was not, and they didn’t have to reimburse employees after that change.
Fair. It’s a legalistic clarification to head these lawsuits off at the pass but you’re right.
And yeah, these cases are about how consumers expect tips to be disbursed, given the laws for tipping and wage theft. It’s not about whether X restaurants follows the policy stated on their checks.
Wow we’ve reached tipping peak!
Also it’s because they knew you had two grinders lol!
That’s what the money is for, as Don Draper would say. Almost have to laugh at the brazenness.
What’s your espresso setup? I have a Normcore tamper/leveler and puck screen…
Normcore self leveling knock off tamper for the win since I didn’t wanna splurge for a Decent tamper. It’s the same reason why I’m ordering the Normcore portafilter because it’s a Weber knockoff that can sit flat on a counter. 
As for setup, I have a Pink Rancilio Silvia Pro X and Weber EG-1 on their way to me.
Oh damn, that’s awesome.
I have a Quick Mill but need to step up my game on the grinder. Using a Kinu hand grinder and a Sette when feeling lazy.
Anyone know of a good affordable electric grinder for making good pourovers?
What’s your rough budget?
