San Diego News March 20, 2008
SAN DIEGO -- A Superior Court judge ordered Starbucks Thursday to pay its California baristas more than $100 million in back tips that the coffee behemoth had paid to shift supervisors.
Saying baristas were entitled to $86 million plus interest in back tips, San Diego Superior Court Judge Patricia Cowett also issued an injunction that prevents Starbucks' shift supervisors from sharing in future tips.
Cowett said the practice was a violation of a state law that prohibits managers and supervisors from sharing in employee tips. Starbucks spokeswoman Valerie O'Neil said the company planned an immediate appeal of the ruling, calling it "fundamentally unfair and beyond all common sense and reason."
The lawsuit was filed in October 2004 by Jou Chou, a former Starbucks barista in La Jolla, who complained shift supervisors were sharing in employee tips.
The lawsuit gained ground in 2006 when it was granted class action status, allowing for the suit to go forward for as many as 100,000 former and current baristas in the coffee chain's California stores.
