By Katie Johnston GLOBE STAFF MARCH 22, 2017
Attorney Paul Holtzman represented about one hundred waiters, bartenders and other catering workers in a case described below in the March 22, 2017 Boston Globe, achieving a $120,000 settlement with Charles River Country Club over allegations of withheld tips or service charges. Krokidas & Bluestein has represented workers at hotels, resorts and spas in similar cases. This is the first settlement with a country club.
The Charles River Country Club in Newton has reached a tentative $120,000 settlement with a group of waitstaff who claimed the club illegally withheld tips.
The waitstaff had sued the country club, alleging it did not share a 22 percent service charge added to diners’ restaurant tabs and catered events with them, as required by Massachusetts state law. Club members were told the charges were gratuities, the suit states.
Dozens of Massachusetts establishments have been sued for similar tips issues in recent years, including the Harvard Club in Boston, which settled with workers for $4 million, and a Berkshires resort that reached a combined $7 million settlement with current and former employees.
The Charles River Country Club settlement, which must be approved by a Norfolk Superior Court judge, will be distributed to 99 members of the waitstaff who worked there between March, 2012 and March, 2015. More than a third of the settlement will go toward attorneys’ fees and litigation costs, leaving approximately $72,500 to be shared among the workers.
“This settlement will ensure fairness for the hard-working employees of Charles River County Club,” Paul Holtzman of Krokidas & Bluestein, who represented the waitstaff, said in a statement.
The club, which opened its golf course in 1921, maintains it never withheld tips from employees, either intentionally or unintentionally, although it has since changed its service charge policy. Details of the change were not outlined in the settlement.
“Charles River has always acted with the highest integrity and in accordance with all laws and regulations at all times, and it explicitly reaffirms its denial of the claims its present and former employees have brought,” Brian Haney of Sweder & Ross, who represented the club, said in a statement. “However, Charles River is pleased to enter this agreement in order to allow this dispute to conclude without any further interruption to its employees’ lives or careers.”
Katie Johnston can be reached at katie.johnston@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @ktkjohnston.
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