Are TopGolf Tipped Restaurant Workers Owed Unpaid Wages?
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In recent news, a former TopGolf employee filed a lawsuit claiming that tipped bartenders and servers were underpaid because TopGolf allegedly employs illegal tipping policies.
The Case: Batiste v. TopGolf International, Inc. et al.
The Court: Riverside County Superior Court of the State of California
The Case No.: CVPS2200395
The Plaintiff: Batiste v. TopGolf International, Inc. et al.
The plaintiff worked for TopGolf as a tipped worker. Batiste claims that tip workers at TopGold were not informed of the company’s intention to apply a tip credit to hourly wages and were forced to give up chunks of their tips to kitchen staff whose job duties included clearing, washing dishes, etc. without customer interaction. Additionally, the plaintiff claims that tipped workers were required to complete a significant amount of untipped job duties; some related to their serving or bartending responsibilities and some unrelated. Some of the untipped duties required were cleaning the restaurant, setting up areas for private events, prepping silverware, restocking condiments, etc. Tipped workers were paid sub-minimum wage with no tip income as a supplement during these “extra” duties.
The Defendant: Batiste v. TopGolf International, Inc. et al.
The defendant in the lawsuit, TopGolf International, Inc. and TopGolf USA Spring Holdings, LLC, allegedly employed servers, known as “bayhosts,” and bartenders that supplemented sub-minimum hourly wages with tips. However, the tipped restaurant workers were allegedly required to spend a significant (unlawful) amount of time completing non-tipped duties. The tipped workers were also required to surrender portions of their tips to distribute amongst kitchen staff.
Details of the Case: Batiste v. TopGolf International, Inc. et al.
Employers that pay workers less than federal minimum wage are required to adhere to strict tip credit requirements as determined by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). According to the complaint, TopGolf unlawfully attempted to take advantage of the tip credit provision set down by FLSA without following the requirements determined by the same legislation.
If you have questions about California employment law or if you need to file a wage and hour lawsuit, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys can assist you in various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.
