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Starbucks Baristas Win Court Judgement Against Starbucks

Starbucks supervisors were caught with their hands in the “cookie jar.’ The result was a $100 million judgment against the world’s-largest coffee shop.

 

Benefiting from the San Diego (Calif.) Superior Court decision are 100,000 present and former baristas - those workers who repeat the shouted commands of, “One tall latte, two grandee lattes” before mixing up gourmet brews that jump-start many Americans’ early mornings.

 

The ruling kicked Starbucks while it was down. The dominant player in the coffee shop business has closed shop after shop and realigned management since its’ stock price fell 50% over the past five quarters, according to the London Times.

 

The “tip” of the iceberg started when Jou Chou, a Starbucks barista in La Jolla, Calif. sued the company for sharing counter tips with supervisors. Two years later the court granted the filing “class action” status.

Starbucks baristas earn $7 an hour while supervisors make $8.50 an hour. In his suit, Chou claimed it was illegal for management to share employees’ gratuities. In discovery, it was learned supervisors claimed $1.71 an hour from the counter tip jar.

To arrive at the $100M settlement, the court multiplied $1.71 by the hours worked by supervisors at Starbucks stores from 2000 to 2008 to get $86.6 million, then added $19.1 million in interest. However, just current and former Starbucks employees in California will divide the settlement.

“I feel vindicated,” Chou told the Times. “Tips really help those receiving the lowest wages. I think Starbucks should pay shift supervisors higher wages instead of letting them take money from the tip pool.”

Judge Patricia Cowett also issued an injunction, forcing Starbucks to change its tip-sharing policy.

The Times reported that Starbucks vehemently disagreed with the ruling. Starbucks spokeswoman Valerie O’Neil said the award was unfair, calling it “an extreme example of an abuse of the class-action procedures in California’s courts”.

On the web site, StarbucksUnion.com, a former employee posted this message: “Many customers were rude and would annoyingly watch you make the drinks and ask if their drink was ready yet,” the message read. “Many of our duties were janitorial. At my store, all the manager ever did to show appreciation for the workers was to say, ‘You rock!’”

 

 

 

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