• Case Studies

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• Missed Meal and Rest Breaks (Wal-Mart)
• Off-The-Clock Work
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• Tip Pooling

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Defendant Tip Pooling Case Study

Jones v. International Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, LLC.

Case Details

In a class action lawsuit, plaintiffs alleged that Shift Supervisors at Coffee Bean locations performed managerial activities, including directing the work of others, and were therefore not entitled to a share of the tip jar, which is pooled and distributed among Baristas and Shift Supervisors. The plaintiffs alleged that because of the company’s improper tip pooling policy, Baristas were systematically shorted tips over the liability period (at least 4 years), and requested that they be compensated for the unpaid tips. Lamorinda was retained to determine what types of activities Shift Supervisors perform, and specifically the extent to which Shift Supervisors’ time is spent performing the same tasks as Baristas. Our study would help to determine the validity of existing Coffee Bean tip sharing policies.

Our Study

• Developed an observation protocol that allowed us to precisely measure the exact amount of time that Shift Supervisors spent performing “Barista activities” and providing customer service.
• Identified locations of all Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf locations in California and selected a random sample to observe.
• Traveled to the locations, observed Shift Supervisors performing the job and tracked the amount of time spent on all tasks.
• Analyzed the data and provided a report of our findings.

Results

The results of the study showed that Shift Supervisors spend the vast majority (71%) of their time performing “Barista activities” such as providing service directly to customers. In addition, almost all of the managers we observed spent at least 50% of their time performing “Barista activities.” The results suggested that Shift Supervisors function in a very similar role as Baristas and should be entitled to a share of the tip jar. Defense counsel used our study as evidence that the Coffee Bean policy of allowing Shift Supervisors to share in the tip jar was legally permissible.