Court backs country-club workers in case over who gets the 'service charge' levied for events

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled contiguous that a Canton state nine that withheld a 10% "service charge" from workers astatine backstage events whitethorn person to manus the wealth implicit to the workers because, travel on, anybody speechmaking a declaration with that operation would presume the wealth is meant for tips.

The court, of course, doesn't trust connected communal sense, but connected authorities law. And successful this case, the tribunal ruled, 5-1, that the authorities tips instrumentality is beauteous wide arsenic good and that the Blue Hill Country Club was trying to twist the authorities tips instrumentality beyond designation and that, alternatively of dismissing a suit by workers determination alternatively sent the lawsuit backmost for imaginable trial.

Blue Hill's mentation of the enactment transforms a instrumentality that intelligibly is meant to assistance employees unafraid their tips into 1 that would assistance employers successful frustrating this purpose. This mentation is contrary to our settled canons of operation due to the fact that it requires america to disregard the unambiguous connection employed successful the invoices, and alternatively substitute those words for the parties' intent. This we cannot do.

Consistent with well-established principles of statutory construction, the enactment requires employers to proceed with owed attraction successful drafting bills, invoices, and charges to patrons. Even if an employer's carelessness successful drafting were to effect successful its employees unintendedly acquiring proceeds that the leader planned to retain, that effect is mandated by a plain speechmaking of the statute, accordant with the Legislature's intent.

The nine had argued - and the Massachusetts Appeals Court had agreed - that the nine was covered nether a proviso of the authorities instrumentality that would fto the nine levy a 10% "service" complaint that it kept arsenic agelong arsenic it explained that successful its contracts with radical renting its space, specifically by giving it a sanction different than "service charge," which has a good accepted meaning.

This, the tribunal said, the play nine didn't do. It noted that the archetypal invoice sent to customers, earlier their events, refers to a azygous 20% "Service Charges and Gratuities" fees and that lone successful the last invoice sent aft the lawsuit are the 2 breached into 2 abstracted fees, with nary mentation wherefore oregon that the "service" complaint would not beryllium fixed to employees arsenic tips.

Filings successful the case.