Just because you think you are tipping a service worker doesn’t mean you are

Two California cases probe who is pocketing those extra fees tacked onto your restaurant tab.

By Mark Kreidler, for Capital & Main
 

Two recent California food service cases vividly illustrate some of the challenges facing those who make that industry hum: the workers.

In the first, a judge found that a San Francisco hotel for years illegally kept service-charge money from banquets—roughly $9 million in all—that should have gone to workers. The presiding judge ruled that “a reasonable customer” would have assumed the service charge was a gratuity for the food and drink servers.

In the other case, which is still unfolding in Los Angeles, the city attorney is investigating allegations that the operator of five upscale restaurants pocketed a 5% service fee that was added onto every diner’s bill. That would be a direct violation of a city ordinance requiring all of the money to go to the restaurants’ workers.

The cases aren’t identical, and the L.A. investigation centers on laws that are distinct to the city. But each in its way speaks to a contemporary problem facing food and drink servers and preparers across the state: Their customers often no longer understand who they’re paying.