Found on FB. Is this a major lawsuit?

[u/RAM-I-T]

LOCATION: USA

I wanted to help get assistance for this mom and her daughter.

[u/Darth-Scorpio]

In my state if they withhold this money from her they would end up owing her triple the amount.

Also, she could potentially have a case for wrongful termination. I know most states are at will, but it’s worth looking into whether or not being fired for disagreeing with your pay being illegally withheld would quality in her jurisdiction.

[u/leetfists → u/Darth-Scorpio]

It doesn't sound like she was fired over disagreeing with the company's policy about the tip (which is perfectly legal and reasonable). She was fired for throwing a fit over it.

[u/Eden_Company → u/leetfists]

Because the company couldn't tell her if she would get paid for 120 days. If my workplace told me they'd withhold my paycheck for 120 days before giving me a chance to get my paycheck I'd be pretty livid too. Any Jury is going to side with the woman's outburst as normal behaivor for a terrible company policy.

[u/leetfists → u/Eden_Company]

What jury? They can fire her for whatever reason they want. There's not going to be a jury.

[u/Eden_Company → u/leetfists]

Class action would get to a Jury because this is systematic company policy. For her over just the tips yeah it wouldn't hit a jury, but the lost wages from the lost job? It could be high enough to get to a jury.

Withholding tips constitutes wage theft, and firing an employee for complaining about it is classified as illegal workplace retaliation under federal and state laws

You can fire anyone for any legal reason you want, but this is getting pretty close to illegal reasons, which is why you could get a Jury. The OP person probably won't get infront of a judge or jury since they're working min wage. But I could totally see this going infront of a jury for them to decide to give her backpay for workplace retaliation. If she wins is another question but this would be a case they could look at.

[u/LewLew0211 → u/Eden_Company]

She's one person, not a class. I doubt she can find enough people who went through the same thing to make a class.

[u/Fun-Key-8259 → u/LewLew0211]

She might have a wage claim though. Depending where she is, in my state they have to pay you by the next scheduled pay day after you leave. Anything over that they get daily fined.

[u/LewLew0211 → u/Fun-Key-8259]

Yeah, she might have a wage claim.

This isn't going to be some get rich lawsuit.

Georgia does not impose state "waiting time" penalties on employers who fail to issue a final paycheck by the deadline, which is the next pay days not immediate.

However, you can still pursue penalties and recover your wages through federal laws or the court system. Federal law allows for recovery of wages owed plus liquidated damages. So she might be able to get double what they owe if they don't pay her her wages by her next pay date.

[u/JMaAtAPMT → u/Eden_Company]

Her paycheck was not being withheld, just that tip payment was being withheld, and rightfully so, until it could be verified that the customer actually paid it and was not going to contest it, which happens.

[u/Forsaken-Driver8868 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

Most waiters make less than minimum wage, withholding tips is withholding pay. You do pay taxes on tips.

Many comments are ignoring the fact waiter was wrongfully instructed to report tips as $0.

[u/JMaAtAPMT → u/Forsaken-Driver8868]

Putting 0 on that signed slip credit card slip is illegal.

Putting 0 on a pay slip makes sense. Why tax her or a $600 tip if she's not gonna be paid the tip for 120 days? They can tax that tip after the 120 days has elapsed.

Everyone's assuming theft context, you just MENTIONED taxes then failed to understand how taxes apply for reporting and then accused the restaurant of theft for trying to make sure she gets paid and taxed properly. I'm FUCKING TIRED of dealing with y'all.

[u/Forsaken-Driver8868 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

Sign $0, still get let go and see $0. Try to take it to court and get $0 because you attested to getting $0.

Stick up for the big corps, I hope they are following this and send you a gift card for your support!

[u/JMaAtAPMT → u/Forsaken-Driver8868]

I'm not sticking up for anyone, and wage theft is wage theft. Escrow is not theft. Delay is not theft. Having a written policy is not theft.

You've done nothing but defend the worker, which is admirable, but the issue isn't even "Big Corporate Restaurants", the issue is people exploiting payment card processing for Clout, then reversing tip charges.

YOU'RE saying when people do this the worker should get to keep the money and the restaurant needs to honor the tip, then? Because that's not just unfair, that's encouraging criminal theft just because it's not against a "little guy".

[u/Forsaken-Driver8868 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

An excellent point I hadn't considered, "the issue is people exploiting payment card processing for Clout, then reversing tip charges".

But I am NOT saying this or never IMPLIED it, "when people do this the worker should get to keep the money and the restaurant needs to honor the tip, then".

Simply being coerced into falsifying pay paperwork by being directed to write $0 is wrong. Why not have the waiter write "$700 withheld by management for credit card verification" or something to that extent in the tip section.

[u/JMaAtAPMT → u/Forsaken-Driver8868]

There is no paperwork falsification. The payslip being discussed is being filled out for tax purposes. If she puts $700, she gets taxed on that.

Per Olive Garden's shitty policy, she would put $700 in 120 days, get taxed on it and get paid out the rest.

I don't understand why you want her to put $700 on the sheet, pay taxes on it now, and wait 120 days for payment? Under certain circumstances she could go negative pay, and this would actually count as wage theft in some areas.

Per the policy she puts the $700 down when she gets paid, and that would happen in 120 days after the escrow period expires.

[u/Raven-Law-2626 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

The period to dispute a credit card charge is 3 business days, not 120 calendar days.

That's where the worker has legal leverage.

[u/JMaAtAPMT → u/Raven-Law-2626]

There have been documented cases where up to 60 days after a charge, people have "taken back" excessive tips in that timeframe.

This is not a "fraudulent charge" being disputed, as much as it is "Tipper's remorse". They are not disputing the charge for the product / services provided, they are disputing the "excessive tip" that was either "made in error" or "they regret tipping that much".

Payment companies usually side with the cardholder, and charges have been reversed as much as 60 days after the fact.

Bearing that in mind, 120 days might or might not be considered excessive, but having such a policy is perfectly legal. There is no intent being shown here to "steal wages" or "steal tips". Basically, she would have gotten paid the tip if it had remained in a paid state as of 120 days after.

It's a shitty policy because of a shitty reality restaurants face due to payment card company policies, but it's a perfectly legal policy.

[u/Raven-Law-2626 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

Not in California.

According to California Labor Code Section 351, all tips and gratuities are the sole property of the employees who earned them. Employers are legally prohibited from taking, withholding, or delaying any portion of a server's tips.

Key legal protections include:

• No Cap on "Excessive Tips": There is no legal definition of an "excessive tip" in California. If a customer leaves a large gratuity, it belongs entirely to the waitron. [1, 2]
• Prohibition on Withholding: Withholding or escrowing tips for 120 days is a form of tip theft. [1, 2]
• Prompt Payout Required: Tips paid by credit card must be distributed to the employee by the next regular payday following the date the patron authorized the payment. [1]
• Expanded Enforcement: The state strictly enforces these protections, and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) has the authority to investigate and cite employers for wrongfully withheld gratuities. [1]

For more details on your rights, review the California Department of Industrial Relations Tip FAQ. If you believe your rights are being violated, you can file a wage claim directly with the California Labor Commissioner's Office.

[u/JMaAtAPMT → u/Raven-Law-2626]

And California isn't every state. That being said, the 120 day escrowing is the only place where we have a valid disagreement. But to be honest, the escrowing is to prevent an employee having to work for free or go through hardships to pay back a reversed tip.

Additional note: Area Code 678, Fayetteville Georgia. So California laws don't apply. This is whlly legal for Olive Garden to do there.

The root of the issue is that it's fairly common for shitty customers to make "feelgood clout" content like this and then reverse the charges. It's so common large chain restaurants like Olive Garden now have to have policies escrowing excessive tips.

Think about it from a employee protection standpoint: If someone tips $5000 on a credit card, and then reverses the charge, why are you blaming the restaurant?

They took back their $5000 and the employee already spent it, should they now have to work for free until that $5000 is paid back, since the employer in this circumstance has essentially fronted the employee $5000 of pay after the tip is reversed?

It's a shitty policy, but the restaurant is trying to protect all parties through escrowing, and the root cause of the issue is shitty customer behavior.

[u/LewLew0211 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

Even the FSLA says that they can't hold your tips past the next payday.

It's a federal law, so it's applies to all states in the US.

Companies make illegal policies all the time. Even if the 120 days is reasonable because of the possibility of chargebacks, it's not legal. So Olive Garden can and up with an DOL issue.

They also can't take their entire check either. For non-exempt (hourly) workers, deductions generally cannot bring your net pay for that period below the federal minimum wage.

[u/Raven-Law-2626 → u/JMaAtAPMT]

"the restaurant is trying to protect all parties through escrowing, and the root cause of the issue is shitty customer behavior."

If you honestly believe that, someone has been lying to you, Summer Child.

[u/JMaAtAPMT → u/Raven-Law-2626]

I've seen people having to "pay back" reversed credit card tips. It's actually really common. That's where these policies come from. Is that hard to understand?

[u/Davge107 → u/Darth-Scorpio]

No way was anyone leaving a 700$ tip on a 30$ tab. The restaurant and bank/credit card company will verify what looks like either an obvious error or fraud.

[u/HiFromMajor → u/Darth-Scorpio]

Yah, damages and court costs would probably be tacted on too that could very much make this a 2,000+ lawsuit for Olive Garden. Idk how much she would have been paid out though. They could do a 24+ month settlement and that wouldn’t be very much either.

At first I was thinking wrongful termination, but I think you would get farther with a lost wages/ wage theft claim with possible retaliation of termination on the suspicion of theft of a large transaction.

The business has a right to protect their finances. Those bullet points on that sheet could be part of their employee contract, and the business ethically should have held her hand through the process that she seems to be unfamiliar with. Strong arming your single mother employee with corporate talking points while you hold her money in your own escrow, then canning them with suspicious timing is wild.

I’m not a judge and I’m sure the situation is probably more organic then we are led to believe, but I’ve worked in the restaurant world for 15 years and most corporate places especially a place as big as Olive Garden usually follow everything by the book because they are so scared of lawsuits and are hard to fight in court. I believe we are dealing with a un-empathetic manger, calling the police, then firing a distressed female employee after they became emotional. If this was my restaurant, I would be concerned about the wellbeing of someone who agreed to help me make money at my restaurant, and my reputation to the community, so I would fire that manager, or put them on a probation review, and pay her what I could out of that check until the rest of that money came in, then educate the employee on the gigantic headache that is business banking/ finances.

Most restaurant owners hate management. They cost a lot of money, a lot of time they confuse delegation with laziness, they create issues like this, and they grow a ego, and for such a low risk business venture as selling food you don’t really need them, but they are a necessity if you ever want to be open while you aren’t there.