Starbucks defends policy on tips

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/03/31/daily3.html

Monday, March 31, 2008

Business Courier of Cincinnati

Starbucks Corp. is lashing out against an unfavorable court ruling and recent media reports regarding the way it handles its employees' tips.

The company says its policy of spreading out tips among its workers has been "mischaracterized."

The statement comes a week after a California judge ordered the coffee chain to pay as much as $105 million in penalties to baristas over the tip issue. The suit was filed in 2004 and granted class-action status in 2006.

Under Starbucks policy, hourly "shift supervisors" split tips with the company's baristas. But under California law, supervisors aren't allowed to be paid from a tip pool.

In a written statement, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) says its supervisors aren't managers - a conclusion the court disputed. Starbucks called the court's decision "not only contrary to the law, but also fundamentally unfair and beyond all common sense and reason."

The Seattle-based company says it doesn't believe it needs to refund any money to its baristas. Starbucks is appealing the California court decision, and it plans to fight similar suits filed in other states.

Starbucks has nearly 16,000 stores,including about dozens of full-service locations in Greater Cincinnati, plus scores of smaller kiosks and cafes.

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

1. Starbuck's "barista" title drives me nuts.

[DainBramaged]

2. Starbucks, corporate whore with a big "S"

How much money will they spend fighting the lawsuits in other states? And who will pay in the end? The "Baristias" or servers, not the managers or "supervisors".

Fuck them, I bought their black tea until recently, but as with Walmart, I won't be going in their stores again.