Doug replied to pennyaline:
>> Methinks also that both the author and the restaurant owner missed the
>> court case in which demanding addtional "service charges" in the guise of
>> or in lieu of gratuities, and in the absence of additional services, was
>> found to be bogus and therefore unenforceable.
>>
>
> That sounds odd. There are plenty of restaurants where it'll say on the
> menu "A 12% service charge will be added for parties of 10 or more", or
> something in that vein. Regardless of what "the court case" said, this is
> not unusual.
First, I have to chuckle at pennyaline's use of precise legal terminology.
I don't know how many times Daniel Webster won in court by pointing at his
opposition and thundering out a scathing "BOGUS!" :-)
Doug, I think I know what she's talking about
:
http://www.gothamist.com/archives/20...ping_point.php
"In a blow to restaurant owners and servers in particular, prosecutors
upstate ruled that a diner could not be forced to pay a tip - even if the
restaurant says it's mandatory."
Of course, that's just ONE case in ONE municipal court. There's no
requirement for rigid consistency between judicial venues in cases like
that; a similar case could easily go the other way in some other city.
Moreover, Thomas Keller may be well aware of that case, but he might have
some reason to believe his service charge *will* be enforceable. The quoted
portion doesn't say how the service charge is applied: It might differ
significantly enough from customary tipping practices that the court would
reasonably view it as an entirely different animal altogether. For example,
if the service charge doesn't depend on the cost of the meal, but is a flat
fee applied to each diner, then I can see some legitimacy to the claim that
the service fee differs significantly from a tip. Maybe even if the flat fee
were upped for parties requiring the services of a sommelier -- the
restaurant is providing an additional service, so it applies an additional
fee. But since I don't know what it meant by a "European-style service
charge," that's conjecture on my part. Any of you Europeans want to chime in
here and explain how service charges are applied in your part of the world?
Bob