Another Employer Hit With Class Action Over Tips

Caribou Coffee, a
Minnesota-based coffee shop chain, has been slapped with a class action lawsuit
charging that the company violated state labor laws, similar to California’s, that bar
management from sharing in customer tips left for employees. The lawsuit was filed
close on the heels of a California court’s
ruling in March 2008 that Starbucks violated California law regarding tips when it
allowed shift supervisors to share in employees’ tips (see CWHA
May 2008 for details). The new suit alleges that
Caribou required employees to pool tips at the end of each work shift, and that
store managers and shift supervisors dipped into the pool.