Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog
Starbucks Corp. baristas objecting to company policy to withhold taxes from their pay based on estimated tips – rather than actual tips – will have to take their dispute to state court. 
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided in Fredrickson v. Starbucks Corp. that it lacked subject matter jurisdictions over plaintiff’s claims. Specifically, the federal-state comity doctrine – which is the idea that courts shouldn’t act in a way that demeans the jurisdiction, laws or judicial decisions of another jurisdiction – would prohibit the federal court from awarding any type of damages on the state-tax component of these claims. The federal tax component of the claim couldn’t be severed, justices ruled, so the entire action had to be decided in state court.
It’s a set back for the three plaintiffs, who filed the class action wage dispute lawsuit in Oregon. Continue Reading ›