BOSTON (AP) – Hilltop Steak House may have to pay wait staff more than $2.5 million after a jury found that the restaurant’s function department illegally funneled tips to managers.
The Essex Superior Court jury also found this week that the Saugus restaurant fired wrongly four waitresses who complained about losing a percentage of their tips.
The case was the first of 19 “tip cases” to go to trial in state after the Legislature amended Massachusetts law in 2002 to say that waitresses, waiters and bartenders aren’t legally required to share tips with kitchen staff or managers, The Boston Globe reported Thursday.
The law bars restaurant owners from distributing tip money to other employees, including managers, even if they also serve food and beverages.
But a lawyer for the Hilltop wait staff said, in some cases, they received 14 percent of the 18 percent gratuity, with the remainder going to managers.
“These waitresses made $3.60 per hour plus a gratuity,” said attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan. “But the managers who were getting their money were making several hundred dollars per week.”
Attorney John Coyne, who represented the restaurant, declined comment.
The jury awarded $125,000 each to three plaintiffs, and $75,000 to a fourth. It also found the harm suffered by the waitresses merited the tripling of $610,000 in damages. Of that, $160,000 will be shared by a class certified by the court. With the addition of attorney fees and interest, the final judgment is expected to increase beyond $2.5 million, Liss-Riordan said.
Janet Calcagno, 45, of Saugus said she worked at the restaurant for five years, and the company did not allow wait staff to see the final bill.
“Then, one day one of us saw the bill and noticed that they were charging 18 percent to the customers, but we were not getting all of the gratuity,” she said.
In January 2003, a month after four waitresses including Calcagno complained, they were fired.
During the trial, Hilltop Restaurant said its managers were entitled to tips because they regularly served food and beverages.
A dozen lawsuits over tips are still pending in the state. Seven other cases have been settled. Restaurants across the country are facing similar lawsuits.
AP-ES-07-27-06 0941EDT
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