Server scandal

Eating Out

Posted by baboo, June 4, 2007 at 9:46 PM

Here in the glorious Berkshires, a headline-grabbing lawsuit caught many by surprise. A group of servers have brought action against Canyon Ranch, the super-pricey holistic spa, claiming that management has been pocketing their gratuities. Canyon Ranch has long had great PR up here as a good, community-friendly neighbor. From what I understand, the servers' claims may well be justified.

Within a day or so the employees of the Cranwell Resort (neither as posh nor as large as Canyon Ranch, but they do a good business hosting conferences and weddings) following suit...so to speak.

Any thoughts?

5 Comments

5 Comments:

Their policy, at least when I used to work for them in the early nineties, was to not accept gratuities as a general rule. We were supposed to flat out refuse them.

Gratutity is built into the flat-pricing of the stay itself.

That did not stop some families/guest, upon leaving after a 3 week stay, to discreetly leave an envelope with that server's name at the host lecturn upon their departure.

The Guilty Carnivore at 3:55PM on 06/05/07

Apparently the same policies exist today at Canyon Ranch. The lawsuit states that the servers were/are required to refuse gratuities, and supposedly the gratuities (18-and-a-half percent, I believe) are built into the price of the stay. But the servers charge that management has been withholding these gratuities.

I was a guest at Canyon Ranch a few years ago. (A gift--no way could I ever have afforded it.) The dining room staff is breathtakingly accommodating. As I recall, guests were instructed specifically (in elegant, pampering terms) not to tip staff. However, I do remember being encouraged to tip the man who brought me my car when I was departing.

baboo at 10:19PM on 06/05/07

We had a similar situation arise here in Maryland at two of the "high-end' Japanese restaurants, Kawasaki:

http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/060414baltimore.htm

These restaurant owners were not only stealing tips from their illegal-alien employees, they were engaging in essentially "forced" labor and money laundering . . . while living a life of ostentatious luxury.

Apparently, after pleading guilty and forfeiting property of around a million dollars, they will be going to prison for a long while.

DocChuck at 10:00AM on 06/06/07

Nasty stuff, DocChuck...

While the Canyon Ranch management allegedly pocketed the servers' gratuities, they allegedly did so by not turning over the 18 and-a-half percent that's tacked on to the bill. But, so far as I am aware, there have been no allegations of forced labor or money laundering. Most of the (visible) staff commute to work, have families in the area, and live in Berkshire County or nearby Columbia (NY) County.

baboo at 7:12PM on 06/07/07

I worked at Cranwell in the early 90's for two years. I was a banquet server, and all of us had our tip money "skimmed" with money going to the house, the chefs, etc. We worked like dogs on parties that cost the guests a fortune, only to split far less than 10% of the gratuity. We were bamboozled, lied to, screamed at, and threatened if we questioned this practice. Had I not been so young, naive, and in need of money, I would have taken them to court myself! I hope this law suit screws their sorry asses!

formerserver at 4:00PM on 08/08/07

Add a comment:

Previewing your comment:

HTML Hints

Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>

Comment Guidelines

Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.

If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.