Posted on 11/10/2004 12:29:27 PM PST by billorites
A $2 tip on a $77 restaurant bill may be cheap, but it isn’t criminal. So says a New York state district attorney, who declined to press charges against a man who refused to leave a restaurant’s required gratuity of 18 percent for large parties.
Humberto A. Taveras’ arrest on Sept. 5 came under New York’s theft of services law, which carries misdemeanor charges. With a party of eight, the Long Island man dined at Soprano’s Italian and American Grill, a Lake George, N.Y., restaurant that applied the tip policy to parties of six or more.
(Ironically, The Sopranos, HBO’s television series, had a recent episode involving a dispute over a gratuity for a large party of mobsters. That dispute ended in the macabre, with the waiter being killed in the argument.)
Ultimately, the case boiled down to language. Soprano’s restaurant described the policy on its menu as a "gratuity," which by definition means "discretion," says Kathleen B. Hogan, the district attorney of Warren County, who ultimately decided to drop charges against Taveras.
She mentions a Southern District of Indiana ruling in which a judge found that a tip or gratuity was strictly within the customer’s discretion and payment could not be forced. U.S. v. Indianapolis Athletic Club, IP90-1783C.
Had the service been written as a surcharge rather than a gratuity, Hogan probably would have prosecuted the case.
"It really did turn on the word," she says, adding that under restaurant policy, the tip should have been nearly $14. "It’s not like they didn’t leave any tip. They just left a smaller tip than you would want."
That’s for sure, say attorneys who represent the restaurant industry. On average, those interviewed for this article say they tip at least 20 percent.
"The whole reason so many restaurants do have notice is because this historically is a problem," says R. Rogge Dunn, a Dallas lawyer and former pizza restaurant assistant manager. "You get a large group that splits the tab, and some people are chintzy on the amount they’re going to leave."
Al DeNapoli, a Boston lawyer who represents the hospitality industry, says this is the first time he’s heard of someone being arrested for poor tipping.
"I’m surprised it was pushed this far, but there are people who are bad tippers all the time," he says. "Whether this is the case here, I don’t know."
Hogan says Taveras was unhappy with the service and said it did not warrant an 18 percent tip.
DeNapoli, who waited tables as a law student, says that not tipping, even when service is bad, may not be the best solution for disgruntled diners. Servers’ salaries depend on tips, he says, and they often share the money with busboys and dishwashers. Instead, DeNapoli advises you to speak with management about the situation or to "talk with your feet" and stop patronizing the restaurant.
Having someone arrested for poor tipping may also not be the best solution, even if it’s a fantasy scenario of many servers.
"You might have a decent civil suit against them, but whatever you would win in that case would be far outweighed by the adverse publicity," Dunn says. "My advice would be to look at the bottom line, and let it go."
Lake George is a resort town, and according to Hogan—herself a former waitress who always tips 20 percent—the publicity they’ve received from the incident concerns many restaurant owners there. Some of them, she says, changed their language from "mandatory gratuity" to "service charge" on large party bills.
"They want to make sure their employees are getting compensation," Hogan adds, "and make sure they’re following what obviously is the law in a federal case."
That mandatory tipping policy in restaurants has always driven me nuts. I ALWAYS go out of my way to be a fair tipper, and my wife generally accuses me of being way too generous if the service is extra good (um, or "extra cute") ... but I don't ever want to be told I HAVE to tip.
8 people only had a $77 bill? What did they have - soup and an iced tea?
All that verbiage, and they can't tell us what the menu actually said. I have a feeling the phrase "will be added" was used, but we'll never know...If it was, I fail to see how it was an optional gratuity for large parties.
But the majority of the time I don't mind it. My husband usually over tips. And I have left the written note "Get another job" on a napkin.
I don't like mandatory tipping. But he knew when he came in and should have paid it.
A 20% tip is ridiculous when a beer or glass of wine is $5 or more, and takes no more than a minute to deliver; subtract the cost of drinks from a meal, THEN leave a 20% tip, and you're back to no more than maybe a 10%- 15% tip overall.
Tell that to the single moms in my restaurant who barely make ends meet.
I have a better idea. Have restaurateurs pay their employees a fair market wage and eliminate tipping. If the customer gets poor service they should bring it up with the manager.
Amen. $2.13 is not enough!
LOL! I've been known to overtip for "extra cute" service, myself...especially since real "extra good" service has become so incredibly rare.
,,, there's gotta be another country for you!
My wife and I tip 20% (sometimes more) if service is good (believe me, they remember you when you come back).
If not, I'll leave 12-ish percent.
If it's rotten, zero.
People like you get on my nerves, defending that crap. It's EXTORTION to demand a tip.
By your reasoning, I as a restaurant owner can confidently coast on my butt by offering lousy service and/or food without fear of recrimination.
Well, some would never return, but I'm certain your kind would.
Such mandatory policies have bothered me too. My understanding is that basic mediocre service rates 15%, and good service rates 20% to 25%. But, if the service is less then mediocre (which I find happens very rarely) then the tip should be too.
It occurs to me that tipping is really just a way for restaurant owners to ship part of their labor cost to their customers.
Pay your employees more and get rid of this dated, patronizing practice!
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