Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is investigating whether Theory Wellness dispensary employees may have shared customer tips with managers, supervisors, or other employees who exercised managerial authority.
Public information concerning Theory Wellness describes a retail hierarchy progressing through positions such as Budtender, Keyholder, Retail Supervisor, and Operations Manager. This type of employment structure raises questions about which employees participate in customer tip pools and whether supervisory employees receive portions of tips belonging to non-managerial workers.
Federal law generally prohibits qualifying managers and supervisors from keeping portions of other employees’ tips, including through a tip pool. An employee’s actual responsibilities and authority—not simply the employee’s title or hourly pay status—can determine whether the employee qualifies as a manager or supervisor for purposes of the federal tip rules.
Migliaccio & Rathod is investigating the distribution of customer tips among Theory Wellness budtenders, keyholders, Retail Supervisors, managers, and other dispensary employees.
Employees May Have Experienced:
- Receiving cash or electronic tips from dispensary customers;
- Having customer tips combined into a common employee pool;
- Keyholders or Retail Supervisors receiving portions of pooled tips;
- Supervisory employees running shifts or directing budtenders;
- Managers or other supervisory employees participating in tip distributions; and
- Not receiving a clear explanation of how pooled tips were allocated.
Potential Claims May Include:
- Improper manager or supervisor participation in employee tip pools;
- Unlawful retention of employee tips;
- Failure to properly distribute pooled tips;
- Violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act;
- Violations of applicable state wage laws; and
- Recovery of tips or other compensation owed.
Signs You May Be Affected:
- You worked for Theory Wellness as a Budtender, Keyholder, Retail Supervisor, or similar employee;
- Your dispensary accepted and pooled customer tips;
- Retail Supervisors, managers, or other supervisory employees received portions of pooled tips;
- A tipped employee regularly directed or supervised other workers;
- A tipped employee regularly ran the dispensary in the absence of higher management; or
- A tipped employee participated in scheduling, discipline, hiring, evaluations, or promotions.
If you have encountered these issues, we would like to hear from you. Please complete the contact form on this page, send us an email at [email protected], or give us a call.