Kara Maciel, a Member of the Firm in the Labor and Employment, Litigation, and Health Care and Life Sciences practices, in the Washington, DC, office, was quoted in an article titled “For Fine Dining Sector, Tip Pools Can Be Legal Trap.” (Read the full version – subscription required.)
Following is an excerpt:
As a wave of lawsuits hits restaurants over tip pool violations, fine dining establishments packed with sommeliers, mixologists and other high-end specialists that tend to take on some managerial duties face the greatest risks of becoming targets for litigation or Department of Labor audits, attorneys say. …
“It's always an open question whether someone like a maitre d' or sommelier or expediter should be included in the tip pool,” said Kara M. Maciel, a labor and employment litigator with Epstein Becker & Green PC.
And the stakes for being wrong on this can be high, since if a tip pool is found to violate federal or state laws, it could invalidate the tip credit that the restaurant took or was banking on for that period of time, Maciel says. …
The same goes with catering hall banquet captains, who might be tasked with taking care of brides and grooms on their big days but who also often supervise staff, according to Maciel.