In April, a San Diego CA judge ordered Starbucks to pay more than $100 million to 120,000 baristas in California, to reimburse them for tips (and interest) which were traditionally handed over to shift supervisors.

(If your first reaction was "Tips at Starbucks?  I just had to stand in line for 10 minutes to get a $6 cup of coffee - I'm not tipping anyone!", and your second reaction was "A hundred million dollars in tips?  I've got to get myself a job at Starbucks!", you're not alone.)

This is just one of the recent cases involving tips and gratuities in the US:  American Airlines recently had to pay 12 skycaps $325k, and a Massachusetts restaurant chain settled out of court for an estimated $2.5 million in damages.

What's so interesting about all this?

Most of these lawsuits have been brought about by a lawyer named Shannon Liss-Riordan, who seems to be carving an entire career out of recovering lost tips in class-action lawsuits.

Lawyers' fees for cases like this are generally based on a percentage of the total judgement amount (typically 20-30% of the total), so winning a couple of lawsuits for $100 million comes with a very attractive paycheque.

But it doesn't bode well for the 'little guy' in the long-term.  Most jobs that involve tips and gratuities (such as waitressing, valeting, etc.) are low-paying, and the workers in these roles rely on tips to make ends meet.  If companies start getting too scared of possible tip-related lawsuits later on, their response may be simply to ban tips entirely - leaving these workers with a real gap in their income.

(sigh)