San Diego Judge Orders Starbucks to Return $100 Million to California Employees

Earlier today, San Diego Superior Court Judge Patricia Cowett ordered Starbucks to pay $100 Million to its’ California baristas in back tips and baristas that had been wrongly directed to shift supervisors. In addition, Starbucks’ shift supervisors were enjoined from sharing in future tips.

Judge Cowett found that the sharing of tips with shift supervisors violated state law. Starbucks called the ruling “unfair” and “beyond all common sense and reason.”

The lawsuit started after a La Jolla barista complained about shift supervisors sharing the employee tips left in the front counter tip jar. After filing suit, a class of nearly 100,000 past and present Starbucks baristas was certified.…