ALBANY – The state’s top court yesterday stiffed 117 temporary banquet waiters who claim some of the city’s top catering facilities cheated them out of tips.
The workers argued they were entitled to the same portion of a service charge levied on banquet bills that permanent staffers receive at the Rainbow Room and several other establishments run by Cipriani Group.
But in a unanimous decision, the Court of Appeals ruled the restaurants had the right to withhold the money because the waiters were actually “independent contractors and not employees.”
The court noted that not only can the temporary waiters work for any restaurant, but they also are paid at a higher rate by a temp-service agency – not the restaurants themselves.
The decision left Robert Erlanger, the attorney for the 117 temporary waiters, “baffled.”
The court, he said, ignored the question of whether the restaurants have a right to keep the “service” charge.
A lower court had noted that while Cipriani’s unionized staff is paid $4.82 an hour plus 14 percent out of the 22 percent service charge, temporary waiters are paid $20 to $28 an hour.
Cipriani lawyer Christy Reuter hailed the decision as a “tremendous victory.”