Man arrested for not leaving a tip
 

A man from the New York City area was arrested Sunday night after his party of nine failed to leave an 18 percent tip, the restaurant's mandatory gratuity for parties of six or more people, which had been added to his bill.

The diner, Humberto A. Taveras, 41, was arrested, fingerprinted and photographed for a mug shot in Lake George, a resort village about 60 miles north of Albany, but he did not produce the $13.73 tip, which is a little less than 18 percent of the $77.43 cost of his meal. He faces a misdemeanor charge of theft of services and, if convicted, could serve up to a year in jail, said Larry J. Cleveland, the Warren County sheriff.

Joe Soprano, who owns the restaurant, said that he and his wife, Tina, had not intended to have Mr. Taveras arrested when they filed the complaint. But Mr. Soprano was unapologetic yesterday.

"They shorted the check and didn't leave any money at all for the waitress," he said. "This is not a vendetta. This is just about standing up for my waitresses."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/11/nyregion/11tip.html

cheap mutha fucka.

Tipping should be abolished.

In the US they get at least minimum wage by law. If they don't get it in tips, the restaurant is supposed to make up the difference.

** Notice to myself **

Never travel to Lake George

:eek7

america is fucking stupid.

RedShoe: "My salad took 20 minutes to get here and it had the wrong dressing"

Waitress: "I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again"

RedShoe: "Good. Here's your 15%."

Waitress: "Sucker"

If it's mandatory, they should put it on the damned bill. In fact, they should include it in the food prices and just pay their damned waitresses...

Joe Soprano brother of Tony Soprano..

Humberto is a walking dead man

WHHAAaa "if convicted, could serve up to a year in jail" that's insane!!!!

Lake George is the shit.

Just stay away from Lake George Village. Its where all the NY Itallian trash goes.

I agree. The taxes shit in USA is fucking ridiculous. When I go buy shoes and look at the fucking pricetag I'd like to see the price I'm gonna pay. The same with tipping, add it to the fucking price. If I want to tip extra for good service or whatever that I will.

Where the fuck is this, Mexico? Sure as FUCK sounds like it. Fucking pricks making tipping mandatory. Fuck those stupid fucks. Where I come from tipping is for delivering GOOD SERVICE. ie: BAD SERVICE = NO TIP.

So according to the law, bad service deserves a tip? Fuck that bullshit. I'd call the police myself and tell them to come get me.

"could serve up to a year in jail"


OMG that is absurd! Another messed up law.

Certain occupations are not covered by the minimum wage laws . . . waitressing is one of them

Really? :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh
Why?

:1orglaugh
BWAHAHAHAAAAAHAHAHAAAHAHAH!!!

:1orglaugh Salad. :1orglaugh

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh

A man from the New York City area was arrested Sunday night after his party of nine failed to leave an 18 percent tip, the restaurant's mandatory gratuity for parties of six or more people, which had been added to his bill.

That is pretty standard in any place higher up the food chain than McDonald's

I don't know why, probably because they know they are going to get tips which will put them over the minimum wage level

OK. I still firmly believe that bad service is not deserving of a tip. And I don't care if that waitress / waiter served 3,000 people.

Adding that as a mandatory charge should be the crime here, not the person refusing to pay it. :2 cents:

What is the federal minimum wage?

The federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $5.15 an hour. The federal minimum wage provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Many states also have minimum wage laws. Where an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to higher of the two minimum wages.

Various minimum wage exceptions apply under specific circumstances to workers with disabilities, full-time students, youth under age 20 in their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment, tipped employees and student-learners.

What is the minimum wage for workers who receive tips?

An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages if that amount plus the tips received equals at least the federal minimum wage, the employee retains all tips and the employee customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips. If an employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 an hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.

Some states have minimum wage laws specific to tipped employees. When an employee is subject to both the federal and state wage laws, the employee is entitled to the provisions of each law which provide the greater benefits.

If they received poor service then they should have said something instead of just shorting the bill

agreed when it comes to things like this.

ya i hate fucking waiters/waitresses with the attitude like they deserve a fucking tip. fuck you. if you give me shitty service you can go fuck yourself and enjoy your 2 dollars an hour.

if u bust your ass and are friendly i will tip big, but if u are some arrogant fuck and dont pay me no mind, fuck you.

Why? Hit where it hurts.

don't pay the bill, go to jail. it is the same as if you filled up your gas tank with $20 of gas, but only $15 and left

No it's not.
If your menu says a steak costs $10. You leave $10 and leave, you go to jail?

Do have a 'surcharge' fee also? or is the tip just another name for the surcharge in america?

A Hooter's girl makes 1.00 an hour, almost all her money comes from tips which she has to split with the grill and the hostess. Waitressing is not covered by the manditory minimum wage, the owners have a choice on that.

Most places charge the tip in the bill on things like that, but I guess ma and pa kettle here leave it up to the goodness of your heart and your brain to do the math and leave the tip. Service was probably not to good for this guy to be willing to go to jail over not leaving the tip or maybe he just wanted to do it for the principal of the thing *shrugs*

This topic reminds me of Mr. Pink (Steve Buschemi) in Reservoir Dogs. :2 cents:

I have never seen a restaurant that did not have their tipping policy for groups over a certain size printed right on the menu. They had 9 people, They were given the total charge for food, drinks, tax and tip.

If it said $77.43 and they only paid $63.70 they commited a crime.Like I said, if they had a problem with the service they should have said something. They probably would have received a significant discount instead of being arrested.

Cheap asses

There is no mandatory tip for 1 person. And yeah, if you don't pay the tax on that $10 you could be subject to criminal charges, although I don't know anyone ignorant enough to try and get out of paying the tax.

In every other country I have ever been the tip is ALWAYS included in the price along with VAT tax etc. Then if one wants to tip on top of that, it's cool. Everyone does too. Your system is flawed. Pricetag = what I pay, bill = what I pay.
If I after a dinner I get a bill for $10, and the service was crap. I pay $10. Not $12. If the fucking steak costs $12, why can't the print it in. You don't see the stupidity in this?

The guy probably loses the case in court and has to pay the waitress a few million, just because she went thru emotional distress.:1orglaugh

normally you have what is called a surcharge in most countries which is 10%.

say 10 + 10% surcharge.

tips is whether you want to or not, say if you liked the meal you pay couple extra to be cool. if the meal is shit you dont pay tips.

but by law you have to pay the surcharge.

there is no surcharge here, and tips are not mandatory . . . .unless you have a certain amount of people at a table. . .because your table of 9 is keeping her from her other cusomers

It's not even close to the same. Tipping is not madatory. If a waitress doesn't get enough tips to make minimum wage their employee is REQUIRED to pay the difference.

I'd wager the guy has no problems in court if the idiots decide to take it that far. Shorting the tip they added to the bill is not shorting the bill, he paid for his food.

now it makes perfect sense. thanks for clearing it up baddog.

I don't understand..maybe cause i'm a good tipper :)

I hate people who assume they are going to be tipped.
I give a tip if the person is really nice, it is an expensive restaurant or I am in good mood. :2 cents:

I only tip when the service is very good. Why tip someone who is only doing their job?

Never heard such utter nonsence in my life. The police should have arrested the resteraunt owner for wasting police time.

"Calling all units there's been a shooting. Three children dead, man escaping on foot".


"Car 26 reporting. Sorry we can't go after him. Some group at a nearby cafe has not given the waitress a tip. We are going in and arresting them instead".

What a fucked up country the USA is.

haha ya what a fucking waste of police time

$2.13/hr is an absolute fucking disgrace and so is mandatory tipping.

It is a lot easier here in Denmark. Tip and taxes are included in the bill. If it say a biff cost 10$ is it 10$ and tips are giving if you like the service.

They usually make way more, actually a decent paying job. But I would never leave a mandatory tip for shitty service. Would have to be carted to jail like that guy. :1orglaugh

Tipping should be abolished?
No, cheap people that stiff waiters and waitresses on tips should be shot.

I'll admit that if a tip is MANDATORY it should be included on the bill - although, in every situation I have been in where it was, it has been.

But people that don't tip at all are a different story altogether. I always leave 15% if the service is adequate - 20% if I feel the service went above and beyond what was required. But if the service is acceptable and someone doesnt tip, I have a fucking tip for them - dont fucking eat out on the first place. I've never worked as a waiter, but people that stiff on the tip is still one of my pet peeves. :2 cents:

Not giving tips is a crime?!

that's how it should be done and people should leave tips

Very true. I'd rather see tip calculated in to the bill rather than having me do the math.

This is false.

Yes, you or your sister mary jane rottencrotch was probably shafted in the past. Not my fault you don't know the law.

I'll even provide a link:

http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/mwposter.htm

Tip Credit: Employers of "tipped employees" must pay a cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour if they claim a tip credit against their minimum wage obligation. If an employee's tips combined with the employer's cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.