A California judge has ordered Starbucks to pay its employees more than $100 million in tips and interest that was paid to shift supervisors, says the Associated Press.

It’s against California law for supervisors to share 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 the suit to go forward for as many as 100,000 former and current baristas in the coffee chain’s California stores.

Starbucks Ordered to Pay Back Tips [Yahoo!] (Thanks, Bladefist!)
(Photo:Travelin’ Librarian)

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