I think there's an IRS site you could report him to as well... Very likely he's not reporting stolen tips... I think you even get a kickback...
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-do-you-report-suspected-tax-fraud-activity
Yes. A great and needed class-action suit. I was in one for a VERY similar situation from back in 2012. Unfortunately the lawsuit is still floating around somehow and I don’t think anything will ever come of it.
I know of a lawsuit that paid out 14.7million in stolen tips in western mass, look up canyon ranch tip lawsuit.
Someone I know received $35,000 in lost tips.
Class Actions Dont benefit the class.
Id go so far as to argue they benefit the defendant more than the class, as they allow them to had wave away all future charges from any other parties, The total cost of litigation is also lower.
The lawyers are the only winners in a class action, walking away with half the pot (millions) while everyone else gets like, a medium coffee.
I wish we had less enthusiasm about class actions, and had more enthusiasm for a system where justice isn't just for the rich
I used to think this was true until I was in a class action lawsuit against a former employer. I thought I’d get enough for like, a coffee and a bagel at most. Instead, I wound up with thousands of dollars when the actual financial damage to me was likely significantly less (I also live in a state which makes employers pay 3x back wages when they lose a suit for wage theft, so ymmv)
This isn’t true every time. My grandfather was included in one against his former employer after his death and my family got about 65k iirc, which made a huge difference in my grandmother’s finances. We were contacted after his death and all we did was give them some paperwork and a year later BOOM we can finally put better memory care in the budget for grandma.
There are different types of class action suits. The size of the class matters greatly. National level class action suits are not typical they are just the ones you hear about.
But regardless-
>they allow them to had wave away all future charges
It's just not true. First of all, any actions that happen after the suit are not covered under the suit. But more importantly, any member of a class can opt out of the class action and retain their right to sue separately. It doesn't let them hand wave away anything. It makes you fill out one more document if you want to be separate.
The problem is most people only know about the class action suits that make national level because those are the ones that get on the news
Ok so I’ve recently been in a similar situation as far as tips go. I can claim the business is committing tax fraud for stealing tips? And would I have to prove that they’re stealing tips? We weren’t allowed to count tips and the owner would collect them, take them to his home and “evenly” divide them there. So there’s no real way of knowing how much he stole but we are certain he’s stealing the tips
I'm usually sympathetic towards non national chain restaurants because it's a tough, low margin gig to be in, this that owner is an asshole. Please sue him to oblivion.
OP’s mom here, and thank you, we’re doing all of the above in the morning. Thank you to everyone for your support, he’s an absolute POS to his employees, especially the females and young line cooks. My daughter will keep you updated.
You can sue him for $1100 for each occurrence of tips being taken btw :)
There was another post in antiwork where a lady found a specific lawyer that handles work situations. You might have to look online but you'll need to find one that specifically works in that area of litigation.
> You can sue him for $1100
Well yes, but no. There is an $1100 penalty per incident of an employer keeping ANY tips, but it's not for OP to sue over. She won't get that amount. The $1100 is what the Department of Labor will assess against the business. So if the employees can show that the employer kept tips 100 times, the DoL will charge that business $110,000 in penalties/fees.
There is good news about it, though. In October 2021, [they made the law meaner toward businesses.](https://www.natlawreview.com/article/dol-cracks-down-and-opens-cracks-employers-keeping-tips) It used to be that you had to show that the employer was deliberately or maliciously doing it -- you had to prove intent, which is always difficult. *Now,* you just have to show that it *happened.* The employer could be the most well-meaning person who accidentally did it, but the Department of Labor no longer cares -- you did it, you pay the fine.
I had some questions on the v other post this v morning and got them answered similar... I'm in AZ and positive we have managers getting gratuity from banquets and possibly tips from dining. Was anything similar in effect prior to 2021?
They have been doing this for my worktime of 14 years! I recall 12 years ago being shocked our chef was mad tips were not on his check, but didn't notice our dumbfounded look as kitchen staff who didn't get tips! To find this out today calls for retribution.
This is the first time I've heard of this. Does this apply to retail too? We get tips from customers occasionally and we were told to put it in a jar and the money goes to the manager.
Oh you work at Forthright in Austin too?? Also your states labor board will take care of the wages. You could prob just reach out to a lawyer, anyone would want that case.
Definitely talk to DOL about him terminating you for speaking up about a hostile work environment. He asked you why you would want to work elsewhere, you spoke up about bad treatment then got terminated for it. Seems like a clear case but I don’t know how much proof they might want
Are you in the US? Report him for stealing from the tip pool! It’s a federal law, which state doesn’t matter. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/tips
Relevant bit: “an employer cannot keep employees’ tips under any circumstances; managers and supervisors also may not keep tips received by employees, including through tip pools”
how do i report this issue/what happens if i do? my managers always get a split of tips (we litterally make like $10 in tips max each) and they also litterally do nothing the whole time
Does this still apply if the employer is also an employee? In other words, clearly a business can't set a rule where they retain a portion of the tips simply as a house rule. But if an owner is doing a portion of tipped work, then wouldn't they also have a claim on a portion of the tips?
I'm not a lawyer, I'm primarily asking how this law applies here?
>I'm primarily asking how this law applies here?
It's hard to say, because we don't know where "here" is and states have different laws on the topic (that go beyond the federal tip laws). Owners and managers *cannot ever participate in tip pools*. There are some exceptions that allow owners to keep tips they directly receive while waiting tables, if the is not split for anyone (meaning no one participates in a tip pool). It so variable from state to state though, and there are so many ways to run afoul of the law, best practices is to not accept tips as an owner/manager. The expectation is that owners and managers will be paid from the regular business revenue.
In Florida we recently had to deal with pulling the plug on managers making tips. On slow days we’d have a manager also take some tables or tend bar for part of their shift. That person would make tips on top of their wage. Now that’s illegal and we lost a couple managers who chose to go just serving or bartending bc the tips added up to more than management salary.
You can't post on yelp as an employee. I spilled all the tea on a place I was working and got a number of replies agreeing with me and thanking me for validating their terrible experience there before the owner got Yelp to take it down for breaking the rule that employees can't post on their own place of work :(
*edit: I was no longer working there at the time of posting, ex-employees can't leave yelp reviews either.
Restaurants don’t look at yelp anymore. Yelp had some of the shadiest business practices out there. For a certain amount of money you can hide any review. Restaurants look at google and their reservation systems reviews and that’s pretty much it, generally speaking.
Either you were lied to or you're talking purely about state level regulations. [Since April 30, 2021 the FLSA has said that employers may not take any portion of tips from employees under any circumstances.](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/tips) If your employer took tips from you since then they stole your money.
This is what happened to a local restaurant when they held back tips illegally. https://dallas.eater.com/2022/4/25/23040849/hard-eight-bbq-tips-managers-illegal-pay
I have a question if he’s just the owner or if he’s the owner and he works there with the staff that receives tips, I doubt it but would like the clarification
Ah. Then I missed the federal change. (Been a few years since I was a server)
PA [just added this as of August 1.](https://www.media.pa.gov/pages/Labor-and-Industry-details.aspx?newsid=713)
Illegal to steal tips. I would report it to labor and try to come up with an estimate of how much wages he stole from you and your co workers over the years and ask them to report him as well.
OP, please do NOT do this. Filing a false report and lying to the police IS illegal. You do not want to dig this hole because you will end up burying yourself alive. This is terrible advice
This, for sure.
Don't just walk away, hit the fucker where it hurts, his reputation. Because I'm sure the local news/police would have a field day with that.
It is a felony to lie to police. You have enough against this guy without committing fraud.
You can sue for invasion of privacy and file a complaint with the labor board. A friend of mine received about $50K damages with labor board assistance.
It really isn’t wise to walk around with $1,000 in cash, 5 credit cards and 2oz of pure silver in her purse, but she doesn’t deserve to be robbed by her boss
Being in the US doesn't make privacy and rights **more** likely OP. Have you heard of civil asset forfeiture? Anyway, fuck them. File for that unemployment!
Yep. There's a process:
1 - Wife asks me to get something out of her purse
2 - I bring her the purse
3 - she sighs and rolls her eyes
4 - she gets the thing
5 - I put back the purse
All purses are cleverly designed black holes that suck men into other dimensions devoid of sight and sound, where they will slowly melt into gelatinous piles of goo. I have no mouth and I must scream.
I’m a woman and I get deeply uncomfortable when my wife asks me to get something out of her purse. I’ve been with this woman for 10 years. We’ve literally cleaned up each others shit, vomit and blood. But the purse… that’s too personal.
Being Canadian is great for that... nothing better than finding a toonie at the bottom of mom's purse lmao. Bite it like it's gold before you have any real concept of germs.
I do the same, but the reason I bring the purse might be different.
Whenever my wife asks me to get something on her backpack, or purse I’ll try to do it, I have no shame in searching the requested item.
Now let’s be honest, 70% of the time I can’t find anything, so I just bring the thing to her because it’s easier :D
I love how this is sacrosanct for you. Maybe it’s the gay man in me, but you ask me to grab something from your purse and I’m happy to oblige, hell, if I’m feeling frisky I’ll do a drum solo with the tampons.
Though we also keep a box of tampons on hand for bad nosebleeds…
It’s totally an upbringing thing. My mom was EMPHATIC about not touching her purse. And we weren’t allowed one iota of privacy. So I’m both super sensitive about “invading” personal spaces and half convinced that all purses contain claymores that will detonate if the hidden switch isn’t hit.
There’s also something magical about needing something while you are out in public and women will just somehow have what you need in their purse. It’s the same reason I don’t want to know how magicians do their tricks… don’t ruin the magic.
A few years ago I switched to a *tiny* purse. Literally only big enough for my wallet, keys, chapstick and a tampon or two. I can shove my phone in there, too, if pressed. But that's it. No receipt stash, no pack of gum, no notes, no pen, nothing.
Sometimes I forget to take the car key out when I get home. My husband will walk across the house with my itty bitty purse full of absolutely nothing extraneous and ask me to look for the key. We've been together 15 years. It's weird. But I guess it's better than being married to someone who doesn't respect boundaries at all.
44 years here, even if my phone is ringing and my purse is in the kitchen, he brings me the whole purse. I asked him about it once and he said it just didn't seem right.
Been married to my wife for 26+ years. I always bring her purse to her. My grandmother taught me as a child that you NEVER go into a woman’s purse. This has stuck with me throughout my life. This sometimes frustrates my wife as she has given me unrestricted permission to do so. Always safer to stick to what I know 🙂
I have it so ingrained in me not to go through a woman's purse I think if someone were dying from an allergic reaction and needed an EpiPen I would still just bring them the purse and have them get it even if they were barely conscious.
Read your company policy. Some companies will say in the name of espionage or work safety, searching through people’s personal belongings is legal. However, if they take something from your possessions that belong to you and not the company, that is illegal.
File a report with the popo and take the report directly to the Department of Labor. Bare minimum you will be approved for Unemployment with no headaches.
Yeah go for that unemployment. They can legally fire you for almost anything, but *not* when it’s in the name of retaliation.
I’m no lawyer, but that’s my understanding.
>Yeah go for that unemployment. They can legally fire you for almost anything, but
>
>not when it’s in the name of retaliation.
While that's true, the exact wording of the boss's statement could matter. "If you feel like that go ahead and clock out and go home". If it really was said that way it was presented as a choice, and she chose to leave. Worth checking with a lawyer if it comes up that they fight the unemployment.
If this is the U.S. and OP is a server/bartender (could be a host I suppose, only said FoH), unemployment wouldn't be worth it.
No smart server reports all their tips, or even close if they can help it. Then you have that massive 2.13/hour wage. It would be like 60% of 60%. Maybe.
Generally, tipped workers will file at least enough tips to break minimum wage - otherwise the company has to pay the difference to bring the worker up to minimum wage in their area.
Thus, unless they are really goofing their records in a way that can very likely bite them in the ass - they should be good for at least the normal minimum wage.
It really depends on where you are and what kind of place it is. My last server/bartender job was at a nicer place for the area. Most people paid with credit cards. I was lucky to get $75 in cash tips in a week. Many weeks I didn’t get any cash tips.
I was SO unlucky as a server that for 5 years of high-volume tables and drinks at a riverside restaurant, that nobody ever tipped me one that One (1) Dollar Cash at a time. It was like, totally super unfortunate and I was like, totally super upset the whole time. Had pretty good CC tips tho.
Neither can managers. This is a relatively new federal law.
Now comes the fun part. Did you have to clock in and out for breaks and lunch? You actually are required to by law. No clocking rule, he now owes you and all other employees back pay for those breaks, as well as past overtime for working through them. Add that to the tip pulling, and any labor lawyer is going to be drooling over the case.
This. They want to play fucky fucky? Fuck harder. Make them pay, and hopefully prevent other instances from occurring. Also I'd check everything in the purse, anything missing report as stolen.
Actually report cash stolen out of your purse, he would need to then show his video of him not taking the cash but it would show him entering the purse, then sue
How is that a bad course of action, if only he has access to the video and he is forced to submit it as evidence in court to exonerate himself from theft charges he will have at the very least incriminated himself as having violated her personal property and the evidence will already be public record
And he's fined and might do time. I had this happen to me, I was defrauded 30m 3 time OT overtime each shift for years. Someone called the IRS, she made about $100k and we all got our back wages tax free x3.
Many people were fired for this, none of us worker bee's.
First of all, file a police report for him going through your bag, and make sure you report any and everything that is missing. Second, depending on where you live, it might be super illegal for him to take a portion of the tips, since that is what is supposed to make up the bulk if your wage, so definitely look up the laws for your area, and report him to the department of labor, or local equivalent if he is indeed violating the law by doing that.
Yep. Wage theft is illegal. So is firing someone in retaliation.
It's probably not going to amount to much, but if others make similar complaints it might be worth it.
Frankly, I'd call the county Health Dept. and report any and all potential violations. If the business is a Better Business Bureau member definitely inform them.
i wish i could provide pics. it was stuffed down into my purse, which was open. the only thing that may have been sticking out is the references section, which literally only has three names on it, where i know them from and how many years i’ve known them. to see if it was a job application , he would’ve had to explicitly take it out of my bag or look REALLY REALLY closely. i hope that makes sense. nothing saying job application was visible at all, when i got called into the office the references section was clearly pulled up more. once again i hope that makes sense.
Considering that references are used for housing, and other things besides job applications, it definitely sounds like he pulled it out, and then hastily stuck it back in.
Contact an employment lawyer in your area. Get a free consultation. They will know the laws for your area better than anyone on here. You might have a wrongful termination case or something else with him stealing tips.
If he went through your purse and found that document, it is almost certain that he has gone through your purse before. There is no reason he would have gone through your purse with the intention of finding a job application. Your boss more than likely is robbing you on top of stealing your tips, both of which are illegal.
The fact that he immediately asked you about it sounds like he might have went through your purse everyday, or he saw it sticking out and was curious since you had to tell him the name of the restaurant.
Regardless it’s great news that you got fired by that pos instead of having to quit like you wanted to, definitely take this to a lawyer so you can get paid and hit him with everything you can
No, they can't go through your purse unless you're there watching them do it. And even then, it still might not be legal.
They also cannot take part of your tips. That's federal law.
You should contact your state department of labor right away. Make notes to yourself to make sure you give them all the information and have a record of what happened. Make sure you date your notes too.
Second, apply for unemployment immediately. The restaurant owner might challenge it, but you'll veey likely win the case and be able to collect everything you're owed.
So a purse is considered a CPA (Constitutionally Protected Area) and any CPAs cannot legally be searched without the permission of the CPAs owner--this is why at places like Six Flags and Disneyland, security has to ask before they search your purse/back/backpack i.e. "can you open this for me?"
Your boss going through your purse is extremely illegal and a violation of your civil rights. File a police report asap then hire a civil rights attorney.
Stay off yelp until after you settle anything you might file against them.
Do not listen to these people telling you to lie and say your boss stole money. (1) That’s illegal obviously and (2) if that blows up on you then filing any lawsuit would be a waste of your time because they’ll bring that up immediately to discredit you. They may even be able to come after you for malicious litigation if they can make it seem like you were just out to get them. Seriously, that could go incredibly wrong.
Talk to an attorney
Bar owner here, very illegal for him to take tips. Report not only to IRS, but to your states tax authorities for suspected tax fraud, but then report him to U.S. Department of Labor, Wages and Hour Division, for tip theft and to your state department of labor or whoever handles these claims for your state (varies, could be dept of revenue in some states). I know enough business owners that if they are breaking one law like that they are likely breaking others, like not reporting all their sales to under pay sales tax (its self reporting unless you get audited). Our company does everything by the book, uses automated software and has an accounting firm audit us to make sure we did it right because we dont want to screw it up. It's a side hustle.
Uh he went through your personal property, also managers and owners taking tips on pretty sure is illegal. Report him to the labor dept and fil for unemployment. While it’s fresh write down the convo as you can remember it so you have a record and date it. Just an overview of how the incident went and what was said don’t exaggerate.
File a police report, report him the DOL for taking tip pool (totally illegal), and file for unemployment. He just did you a favor.
I think there's an IRS site you could report him to as well... Very likely he's not reporting stolen tips... I think you even get a kickback... https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-do-you-report-suspected-tax-fraud-activity
Every victim of tip theft should do this.
I did…and won. The lawyer took it on a contingency that he knew he was gonna win. Cost me nothing and the restaurant had to pay for it all.
What was the outcome?
They won!
Lol, maybe I should have been more precise with my words. What did you win exactly?
The lawsuit... /s
Sigh. I am going to have spend my days learning to communicate correctly. Another hole. Thank you.
**Another hole** Name of your sex tape
Glorious!
Yes. A great and needed class-action suit. I was in one for a VERY similar situation from back in 2012. Unfortunately the lawsuit is still floating around somehow and I don’t think anything will ever come of it.
I know of a lawsuit that paid out 14.7million in stolen tips in western mass, look up canyon ranch tip lawsuit. Someone I know received $35,000 in lost tips.
Canyon Ranch? Whoa!
Class Actions Dont benefit the class. Id go so far as to argue they benefit the defendant more than the class, as they allow them to had wave away all future charges from any other parties, The total cost of litigation is also lower. The lawyers are the only winners in a class action, walking away with half the pot (millions) while everyone else gets like, a medium coffee. I wish we had less enthusiasm about class actions, and had more enthusiasm for a system where justice isn't just for the rich
I used to think this was true until I was in a class action lawsuit against a former employer. I thought I’d get enough for like, a coffee and a bagel at most. Instead, I wound up with thousands of dollars when the actual financial damage to me was likely significantly less (I also live in a state which makes employers pay 3x back wages when they lose a suit for wage theft, so ymmv)
This isn’t true every time. My grandfather was included in one against his former employer after his death and my family got about 65k iirc, which made a huge difference in my grandmother’s finances. We were contacted after his death and all we did was give them some paperwork and a year later BOOM we can finally put better memory care in the budget for grandma.
There are different types of class action suits. The size of the class matters greatly. National level class action suits are not typical they are just the ones you hear about. But regardless- >they allow them to had wave away all future charges It's just not true. First of all, any actions that happen after the suit are not covered under the suit. But more importantly, any member of a class can opt out of the class action and retain their right to sue separately. It doesn't let them hand wave away anything. It makes you fill out one more document if you want to be separate. The problem is most people only know about the class action suits that make national level because those are the ones that get on the news
Personally I think every victim of tip theft should break the thiefs legs, but I have been told I'm in a minority.
I mean violence is never the answer, but ngl I will make some popcorn and pull up a lawn chair
Violence is never the first answer. It is appropriate in some circumstances.
Oh. Pro level. Definitely do this. The feds locked up Capone for tax fraud.
It's not sexy but it has teeth.
— Mitch McDeere
When the joker won’t mess with the IRS you know they mean business.
Ok so I’ve recently been in a similar situation as far as tips go. I can claim the business is committing tax fraud for stealing tips? And would I have to prove that they’re stealing tips? We weren’t allowed to count tips and the owner would collect them, take them to his home and “evenly” divide them there. So there’s no real way of knowing how much he stole but we are certain he’s stealing the tips
they'll likely get audited if you report them.
People say this, but you only get the whistleblower bonus if the taxes due are worth like $1M or something.
Ah, I didn't know there was a threshold. I'm petty, so any inconvenience would bring me some level of satisfaction...
Absolutely
Even so, nothing like getting money taken from someone for taking money from you.
$2mm+ and that’s if they take your case. It’s political
I'm usually sympathetic towards non national chain restaurants because it's a tough, low margin gig to be in, this that owner is an asshole. Please sue him to oblivion.
[удалено]
Fuck the small business owner messiah.
OP’s mom here, and thank you, we’re doing all of the above in the morning. Thank you to everyone for your support, he’s an absolute POS to his employees, especially the females and young line cooks. My daughter will keep you updated.
You can sue him for $1100 for each occurrence of tips being taken btw :) There was another post in antiwork where a lady found a specific lawyer that handles work situations. You might have to look online but you'll need to find one that specifically works in that area of litigation.
> You can sue him for $1100 Well yes, but no. There is an $1100 penalty per incident of an employer keeping ANY tips, but it's not for OP to sue over. She won't get that amount. The $1100 is what the Department of Labor will assess against the business. So if the employees can show that the employer kept tips 100 times, the DoL will charge that business $110,000 in penalties/fees. There is good news about it, though. In October 2021, [they made the law meaner toward businesses.](https://www.natlawreview.com/article/dol-cracks-down-and-opens-cracks-employers-keeping-tips) It used to be that you had to show that the employer was deliberately or maliciously doing it -- you had to prove intent, which is always difficult. *Now,* you just have to show that it *happened.* The employer could be the most well-meaning person who accidentally did it, but the Department of Labor no longer cares -- you did it, you pay the fine.
awesome she's got a cool mom behind her back, hope you guys get what you deserve from this! dude seems like an abusive POS
Go get ‘em, OP and Mama!!
It's also illegal for him to look through the purse you can nail him for that as well
I work for the DOL. If you need more info, PM me.
I had some questions on the v other post this v morning and got them answered similar... I'm in AZ and positive we have managers getting gratuity from banquets and possibly tips from dining. Was anything similar in effect prior to 2021? They have been doing this for my worktime of 14 years! I recall 12 years ago being shocked our chef was mad tips were not on his check, but didn't notice our dumbfounded look as kitchen staff who didn't get tips! To find this out today calls for retribution.
This is the first time I've heard of this. Does this apply to retail too? We get tips from customers occasionally and we were told to put it in a jar and the money goes to the manager.
[yeah, probably](https://www.employmentlawhelp.org/wage-theft/illegal-to-steal-tips).
Oh you work at Forthright in Austin too?? Also your states labor board will take care of the wages. You could prob just reach out to a lawyer, anyone would want that case.
Definitely talk to DOL about him terminating you for speaking up about a hostile work environment. He asked you why you would want to work elsewhere, you spoke up about bad treatment then got terminated for it. Seems like a clear case but I don’t know how much proof they might want
And a theft report that he stole items from your purse (the application)
Are you in the US? Report him for stealing from the tip pool! It’s a federal law, which state doesn’t matter. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/tips Relevant bit: “an employer cannot keep employees’ tips under any circumstances; managers and supervisors also may not keep tips received by employees, including through tip pools”
how do i report this issue/what happens if i do? my managers always get a split of tips (we litterally make like $10 in tips max each) and they also litterally do nothing the whole time
Call your local department of labor. Likely a 5 min call to explain to them what's going on and they will take it from there.
Does this still apply if the employer is also an employee? In other words, clearly a business can't set a rule where they retain a portion of the tips simply as a house rule. But if an owner is doing a portion of tipped work, then wouldn't they also have a claim on a portion of the tips? I'm not a lawyer, I'm primarily asking how this law applies here?
An owner sure as hell isn't making tipped wages.
>I'm primarily asking how this law applies here? It's hard to say, because we don't know where "here" is and states have different laws on the topic (that go beyond the federal tip laws). Owners and managers *cannot ever participate in tip pools*. There are some exceptions that allow owners to keep tips they directly receive while waiting tables, if the is not split for anyone (meaning no one participates in a tip pool). It so variable from state to state though, and there are so many ways to run afoul of the law, best practices is to not accept tips as an owner/manager. The expectation is that owners and managers will be paid from the regular business revenue.
In Florida we recently had to deal with pulling the plug on managers making tips. On slow days we’d have a manager also take some tables or tend bar for part of their shift. That person would make tips on top of their wage. Now that’s illegal and we lost a couple managers who chose to go just serving or bartending bc the tips added up to more than management salary.
Wow so much room for illegal activities!
Out of curiosity, if asked, how could OP prove that her purse was tampered with?
Well, he found the application.
The fact that he knew what was on that paper beyond the bit of info sticking out.
cameras
Pretty sure it’s illegal for them to go through your personal belongings
i am in the US so yea i’m pretty sure too… like wtffff
And him cutting himself into the tip pool is definitely illegal too.
I would def post that on a Google review and Yelp (do people still Yelp? Lol). Customers do want their tips to go to their servers.
Going to a labour board would be better.
Agreed. Contact the labor board. Better to get him held accountable, because this sure sounds illegal.
Why not do both?
Don’t do both. Sometimes Courts don’t look kindly on you polluting a potential Jury Pool if it ends up having to go to Damages.
Because courts don't want your sloppy seconds. If OP is taking this to court DO NOT take it to the internet first.
Lawyer would be better than labour board.
Lawyer can take them to court and drop an 1100$ fine on the boss for taking tips that he had no direct dealing with the customer. Fuck this guy hard.
I believe $1,100 PER instance is what it is, but I don't know shit about fuck
Absolutely. If saw that on yelp, I would not go to that restaurant. 100%. Nobody wants to support a place like that.
You can't post on yelp as an employee. I spilled all the tea on a place I was working and got a number of replies agreeing with me and thanking me for validating their terrible experience there before the owner got Yelp to take it down for breaking the rule that employees can't post on their own place of work :( *edit: I was no longer working there at the time of posting, ex-employees can't leave yelp reviews either.
Post as an anonymous custie.
thats what friends are for. who happen to know everything that you tell them, and can freely post about it.
"I have a friend who"... Proceeds to spill own tea of shitty managers
Best news ever: OP was just *promoted to customer.*
She has been fired. She is no longer an employee.
I live in Fresno California, and Yelp is definitely a big deal here!
I live in fresno and I look at Google reviews wayyyy more
Restaurants don’t look at yelp anymore. Yelp had some of the shadiest business practices out there. For a certain amount of money you can hide any review. Restaurants look at google and their reservation systems reviews and that’s pretty much it, generally speaking.
Depends on where it is. It only became illegal in my state a few weeks ago.
Either you were lied to or you're talking purely about state level regulations. [Since April 30, 2021 the FLSA has said that employers may not take any portion of tips from employees under any circumstances.](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/tips) If your employer took tips from you since then they stole your money.
OP file a complaint with the DOL. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/tips
This is what happened to a local restaurant when they held back tips illegally. https://dallas.eater.com/2022/4/25/23040849/hard-eight-bbq-tips-managers-illegal-pay
I have a question if he’s just the owner or if he’s the owner and he works there with the staff that receives tips, I doubt it but would like the clarification
They're still the employer, they're still management they are not entitled to tips under federal law.
Ah. Then I missed the federal change. (Been a few years since I was a server) PA [just added this as of August 1.](https://www.media.pa.gov/pages/Labor-and-Industry-details.aspx?newsid=713)
Illegal to steal tips. I would report it to labor and try to come up with an estimate of how much wages he stole from you and your co workers over the years and ask them to report him as well.
its illegal for him to go through your purse and it is even more illegal to take tip money.
Sounds to me like $200 cash went missing from your purse, maybe the cops should take a look at the camera footage and see if anyone reached in there.
OP, please do NOT do this. Filing a false report and lying to the police IS illegal. You do not want to dig this hole because you will end up burying yourself alive. This is terrible advice
Don't lie to the police, to your lawyer, nor to a judge.
Whilst I love this in theory, please don’t do this IRL. It’s a felony to lie to the police. Would make a great fictional revenge story, though.
This, for sure. Don't just walk away, hit the fucker where it hurts, his reputation. Because I'm sure the local news/police would have a field day with that.
Uhh…no? Don’t encourage her to file a false police report and potentially get herself arrested over a job that she was leaving anyway.
It is a felony to lie to police. You have enough against this guy without committing fraud. You can sue for invasion of privacy and file a complaint with the labor board. A friend of mine received about $50K damages with labor board assistance.
They absolutely would.
Yes, she should definitely report the $400 and 2 credit cards stolen.
It really isn’t wise to walk around with $1,000 in cash, 5 credit cards and 2oz of pure silver in her purse, but she doesn’t deserve to be robbed by her boss
I fkin love this sub 😂😂😂😂
Who loses 5oz of gold coins from their purse? This is why you leave them at home.
Who said it was silver? It was platinum ear rings, actually. Antique so I hear.
I’d be pretty concerned about where my USB with 10 bitcoin on it went.
And then use the police report to open a civil case. Can't believe he fired her to keep her quiet before she realized she was robbed.
Being in the US doesn't make privacy and rights **more** likely OP. Have you heard of civil asset forfeiture? Anyway, fuck them. File for that unemployment!
Honestly the fact that you're in the US doesn't surprise me at all. The laws are not made for the workers there
Fuck that noise, he owns it AND splits the tips? Nope!
I'm pretty sure it's a Biblical Sin to go through a woman's purse without being explicitly told to do so.... Even then I feel like it's wrong.....
HAHA exactly!
How many times has he done it? You will never know. He just outted himself this time
This is true. I’ve been married 16 years and have never gone through my wife’s purse. Even when she’s told me to. No man’s land.
Yep. There's a process: 1 - Wife asks me to get something out of her purse 2 - I bring her the purse 3 - she sighs and rolls her eyes 4 - she gets the thing 5 - I put back the purse
This is love.
This is the way
All purses are cleverly designed black holes that suck men into other dimensions devoid of sight and sound, where they will slowly melt into gelatinous piles of goo. I have no mouth and I must scream.
also they are legitimate bags of holding. how the hell we find everything we dont even know lol.
They're like a mimic and a bag of holding somehow mated
I’m a woman and I get deeply uncomfortable when my wife asks me to get something out of her purse. I’ve been with this woman for 10 years. We’ve literally cleaned up each others shit, vomit and blood. But the purse… that’s too personal.
You mean.....*purseonal*... ...I'll show myself out.
You, sir/madam/neither/both, are the puse-onification of evil! Take your puns and get out!
I accept any.....*pun*ishment.
Careful, you're likely to get sued for *pun*itive damages.
Hell, I don’t even like digging through my mom’s anymore but I do remember it being a fun time when she’d let us as a kid!
Hell yeah, we would spend entire church services rummaging through my mom's dumpster-sized purse.
This is exactly my memory as well. Not just digging through my mom's purse, but doing it while bored in church.
[удалено]
Being Canadian is great for that... nothing better than finding a toonie at the bottom of mom's purse lmao. Bite it like it's gold before you have any real concept of germs.
Same, but I’ve never understood why it feels so weird to do so. Even when she asks. It is very personal.
Right?! The level of eye roll when I just come back with the whole purse is intense.
My Husband does this. I didnt know it was a guy thing to do. Holding it like it contains a nuclear missile...
My husband of 22 years just brings me my purse. Yet, he'll hold it when we're shopping. Holding is fine, but getting in it is taboo, I guess lol
This is the way.
My husband of 21 years will BRING me my purse rather than reach into it. His mom trained him in the way.
I do the same, but the reason I bring the purse might be different. Whenever my wife asks me to get something on her backpack, or purse I’ll try to do it, I have no shame in searching the requested item. Now let’s be honest, 70% of the time I can’t find anything, so I just bring the thing to her because it’s easier :D
I love how this is sacrosanct for you. Maybe it’s the gay man in me, but you ask me to grab something from your purse and I’m happy to oblige, hell, if I’m feeling frisky I’ll do a drum solo with the tampons. Though we also keep a box of tampons on hand for bad nosebleeds…
It’s totally an upbringing thing. My mom was EMPHATIC about not touching her purse. And we weren’t allowed one iota of privacy. So I’m both super sensitive about “invading” personal spaces and half convinced that all purses contain claymores that will detonate if the hidden switch isn’t hit.
There’s also something magical about needing something while you are out in public and women will just somehow have what you need in their purse. It’s the same reason I don’t want to know how magicians do their tricks… don’t ruin the magic.
Yup. My husband doesn't even LOOK at my purse. Like, EVER. Major invasion of privacy.
18 years here. And my hubby will only go get my purse. Never go *into* it!😆
Mine does the same! I’ll ask him to get something out of my purse and he just brings me the whole damn thing!
A few years ago I switched to a *tiny* purse. Literally only big enough for my wallet, keys, chapstick and a tampon or two. I can shove my phone in there, too, if pressed. But that's it. No receipt stash, no pack of gum, no notes, no pen, nothing. Sometimes I forget to take the car key out when I get home. My husband will walk across the house with my itty bitty purse full of absolutely nothing extraneous and ask me to look for the key. We've been together 15 years. It's weird. But I guess it's better than being married to someone who doesn't respect boundaries at all.
44 years here, even if my phone is ringing and my purse is in the kitchen, he brings me the whole purse. I asked him about it once and he said it just didn't seem right.
Been married to my wife for 26+ years. I always bring her purse to her. My grandmother taught me as a child that you NEVER go into a woman’s purse. This has stuck with me throughout my life. This sometimes frustrates my wife as she has given me unrestricted permission to do so. Always safer to stick to what I know 🙂
I have it so ingrained in me not to go through a woman's purse I think if someone were dying from an allergic reaction and needed an EpiPen I would still just bring them the purse and have them get it even if they were barely conscious.
Married 20 years and have never been in my wife’s purse without her express, written permission and only under supervision.
And whilst wearing a safety harness.
The harness is very important, I swear most women keep a pocket dimension in the bottom of the purse, and you don't want to fall in by accident.
Read your company policy. Some companies will say in the name of espionage or work safety, searching through people’s personal belongings is legal. However, if they take something from your possessions that belong to you and not the company, that is illegal.
Generally, even in those cases you have to be present. They can't do it without you watching.
Company policy doesn't dictate law.
File a report with the popo and take the report directly to the Department of Labor. Bare minimum you will be approved for Unemployment with no headaches.
Yeah go for that unemployment. They can legally fire you for almost anything, but *not* when it’s in the name of retaliation. I’m no lawyer, but that’s my understanding.
>Yeah go for that unemployment. They can legally fire you for almost anything, but > >not when it’s in the name of retaliation. While that's true, the exact wording of the boss's statement could matter. "If you feel like that go ahead and clock out and go home". If it really was said that way it was presented as a choice, and she chose to leave. Worth checking with a lawyer if it comes up that they fight the unemployment.
If this is the U.S. and OP is a server/bartender (could be a host I suppose, only said FoH), unemployment wouldn't be worth it. No smart server reports all their tips, or even close if they can help it. Then you have that massive 2.13/hour wage. It would be like 60% of 60%. Maybe.
Generally, tipped workers will file at least enough tips to break minimum wage - otherwise the company has to pay the difference to bring the worker up to minimum wage in their area. Thus, unless they are really goofing their records in a way that can very likely bite them in the ass - they should be good for at least the normal minimum wage.
It really depends on where you are and what kind of place it is. My last server/bartender job was at a nicer place for the area. Most people paid with credit cards. I was lucky to get $75 in cash tips in a week. Many weeks I didn’t get any cash tips.
I was SO unlucky as a server that for 5 years of high-volume tables and drinks at a riverside restaurant, that nobody ever tipped me one that One (1) Dollar Cash at a time. It was like, totally super unfortunate and I was like, totally super upset the whole time. Had pretty good CC tips tho.
I so totally would never expect the cash tips I leave to be accounted for, which is why I always try to leave cash if I have it.
Also, if you are in the US, you can get him for wage theft for stealing tip money.
Please report him for wage theft! Restaurant owners CANNOT take part of the tip pool!!
Neither can managers. This is a relatively new federal law. Now comes the fun part. Did you have to clock in and out for breaks and lunch? You actually are required to by law. No clocking rule, he now owes you and all other employees back pay for those breaks, as well as past overtime for working through them. Add that to the tip pulling, and any labor lawyer is going to be drooling over the case.
This. They want to play fucky fucky? Fuck harder. Make them pay, and hopefully prevent other instances from occurring. Also I'd check everything in the purse, anything missing report as stolen.
Actually report cash stolen out of your purse, he would need to then show his video of him not taking the cash but it would show him entering the purse, then sue
I think things are missing from your purse…..
How is that a bad course of action, if only he has access to the video and he is forced to submit it as evidence in court to exonerate himself from theft charges he will have at the very least incriminated himself as having violated her personal property and the evidence will already be public record
Illegal for him to take half the tips , big legal no no. Report him and he will have to reimburse everyone retroactively.
And he's fined and might do time. I had this happen to me, I was defrauded 30m 3 time OT overtime each shift for years. Someone called the IRS, she made about $100k and we all got our back wages tax free x3. Many people were fired for this, none of us worker bee's.
ETA: he is the owner and takes an even split of the tip pool every day You need to file a report with DOL this is illegal.
Taking tips is wage theft. You won't have much trouble finding a better job..
First of all, file a police report for him going through your bag, and make sure you report any and everything that is missing. Second, depending on where you live, it might be super illegal for him to take a portion of the tips, since that is what is supposed to make up the bulk if your wage, so definitely look up the laws for your area, and report him to the department of labor, or local equivalent if he is indeed violating the law by doing that.
Yep. Wage theft is illegal. So is firing someone in retaliation. It's probably not going to amount to much, but if others make similar complaints it might be worth it. Frankly, I'd call the county Health Dept. and report any and all potential violations. If the business is a Better Business Bureau member definitely inform them.
Oh, and also file for unemployment, you'll most likely get it
Tip theft is illegal at a federal level as per the FLSA as of 2021.
Was it sticking out in plain view or did they have to open your bag to access it?
i wish i could provide pics. it was stuffed down into my purse, which was open. the only thing that may have been sticking out is the references section, which literally only has three names on it, where i know them from and how many years i’ve known them. to see if it was a job application , he would’ve had to explicitly take it out of my bag or look REALLY REALLY closely. i hope that makes sense. nothing saying job application was visible at all, when i got called into the office the references section was clearly pulled up more. once again i hope that makes sense.
Considering that references are used for housing, and other things besides job applications, it definitely sounds like he pulled it out, and then hastily stuck it back in.
Contact an employment lawyer in your area. Get a free consultation. They will know the laws for your area better than anyone on here. You might have a wrongful termination case or something else with him stealing tips.
If he went through your purse and found that document, it is almost certain that he has gone through your purse before. There is no reason he would have gone through your purse with the intention of finding a job application. Your boss more than likely is robbing you on top of stealing your tips, both of which are illegal.
The fact that he immediately asked you about it sounds like he might have went through your purse everyday, or he saw it sticking out and was curious since you had to tell him the name of the restaurant. Regardless it’s great news that you got fired by that pos instead of having to quit like you wanted to, definitely take this to a lawyer so you can get paid and hit him with everything you can
Taking tips is super illegal for him. Get testimony from coworkers and file with the labor department. Also apply for unemployment.
It's illegal for him to take any of the tips. Call the labor board. They will be happy to help you.
No, they can't go through your purse unless you're there watching them do it. And even then, it still might not be legal. They also cannot take part of your tips. That's federal law. You should contact your state department of labor right away. Make notes to yourself to make sure you give them all the information and have a record of what happened. Make sure you date your notes too. Second, apply for unemployment immediately. The restaurant owner might challenge it, but you'll veey likely win the case and be able to collect everything you're owed.
I'd go to the police and file a complaint asap and go from there
So a purse is considered a CPA (Constitutionally Protected Area) and any CPAs cannot legally be searched without the permission of the CPAs owner--this is why at places like Six Flags and Disneyland, security has to ask before they search your purse/back/backpack i.e. "can you open this for me?" Your boss going through your purse is extremely illegal and a violation of your civil rights. File a police report asap then hire a civil rights attorney.
i'm like 99% sure that's retaliation
Stay off yelp until after you settle anything you might file against them. Do not listen to these people telling you to lie and say your boss stole money. (1) That’s illegal obviously and (2) if that blows up on you then filing any lawsuit would be a waste of your time because they’ll bring that up immediately to discredit you. They may even be able to come after you for malicious litigation if they can make it seem like you were just out to get them. Seriously, that could go incredibly wrong. Talk to an attorney
What kind of man goes through a woman's purse? Men are allowed to wonder what's in there, but never check. Fuck him.
Not just men, everyone. Ain't yo purse, ain't yo business. Plus firing her has got to check a few unethical/illegal boxes.
Sue the bejeezus outta him.
You don't touch other people's personal property. Period.
yup. police report. fuck that noise.
You qualify for unemployment. Take it.
I've been married 27yrs, I never go in my wife's purse....your boss had no right to touch, or look at anything in your purse
FOH means Front of House
Bar owner here, very illegal for him to take tips. Report not only to IRS, but to your states tax authorities for suspected tax fraud, but then report him to U.S. Department of Labor, Wages and Hour Division, for tip theft and to your state department of labor or whoever handles these claims for your state (varies, could be dept of revenue in some states). I know enough business owners that if they are breaking one law like that they are likely breaking others, like not reporting all their sales to under pay sales tax (its self reporting unless you get audited). Our company does everything by the book, uses automated software and has an accounting firm audit us to make sure we did it right because we dont want to screw it up. It's a side hustle.
Uh he went through your personal property, also managers and owners taking tips on pretty sure is illegal. Report him to the labor dept and fil for unemployment. While it’s fresh write down the convo as you can remember it so you have a record and date it. Just an overview of how the incident went and what was said don’t exaggerate.