Kitchen staff win back withheld tips

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Cooks and servers at three restaurants will share $420,000 after the owners agreed to settle claims that managers took money from the staff tip pool.

Workers said managers had for years drawn a share of pooled tips on busy nights.

The case covered years of tips and how the chain must run its tip pool from now on.

Ostrevane Law rebuilt the tip distributions shift by shift from payroll records and point-of-sale reports, showing how much went to managers.

The owners paid $420,000 and changed the tip-pool policy to exclude managers.

Payments were divided by hours worked. Some former employees could not be located.

Federal law limits who can share in tips. Pay stubs that list tips separately make problems easier to spot, wage lawyers say.