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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Starbuck’s Must Pay Baristas $100 Million

SAN DIEGO (CN) - A Superior Court judge has ordered Starbuck's to pay its baristas more than $100 million in tip money that the giant coffee chain deducted for shift supervisors. Ruling in the class-action lawsuit Judge Patricia Cowett said the tip-sharing - estimated at $1.71 an hour - violated a state law that prohibits managers from sharing employees' tips.

Judge Cowett ruled in favor of the baristas on Feb. 28. On Thursday she decided damages, which Starbucks vowed to appeal. The ruling could affect as many as 100,000 people who have worked for Starbuck's since 2000.

More than 2,400 of Starbuck's 11,000 U.S. stores are in California. Its share price has dropped by 45 percent in the past year.

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