NELA Files Amicus in Cumbie Tip Case

Attached is a "friend of the court" brief filed by the National Employment Lawyers Association in the Cumbie v. Woody Woo, Inc. case pending before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. As discussed in earlier posts, the appeal concerns whether the FLSA allows employers to divert employee tips if they do not take a tip credit against the minimum wage. In other words, is the general rule that employee tips belong to employees nullified if an employer pays the full minimum wage rather than the server minimum? The brief is of particular interest in that it provides a succinct overview of the development of the FLSA tip rules and the policy concerns behind those rules.