Dine & Dash: Is it legal to make waiters pay for them?

The article below notes the increase in "dine & dash" incidents in food service as a result of the poor economy. Restaurants are trying to save labor by reducing the number of staff working the floor and this results in larger stations for the waitstaff to not only serve but also to "monitor" for "dine & dash" walkouts.

If the restaurant was robbed by thieves, the operations would not demand payment from the staff because someone left the back door open.

If a cook messed up a prep batch... the operation would not make them pay back the cost of the raw product or lost labor dollars.

Is it legal for employers to make waiters pay for the tabs of "dine & dash" crooks who perpetrated the theft with calculated criminal intent?

Paul

"Dining and dashing" on the rise in bleak economy
kswo.com March 18, 2009
http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=10031124

Lawton_More and more restaurants are seeing "dining and dashing" lately. It's when a customer dines at a restaurant, eats their meal, and skips out on the check. When this happens, some restaurants eat the loss, but others make their employees pay.

Servers and manager say they have seen it all, and dining and dashing is just a part of business. So, they say they always are aware of what their customers are doing. While local restaurants may not be busy during the week, workers say weekends are packed, and that's when they must be more alert than ever.

"Anytime that there is a wait, normally people see that as their best opportunity (to dine and dash)," said waitress Malina Coulter.

Dishonest diners have different methods of skipping out on their bill - from declined credit cards to simply walking out and leaving the wait staff stiffed.

Restaurant Manager James Shurtz had to pay a bill of $110 when one of his customers walked out on him. But, he says it's just part of the job. "I'm a waiter - it happens."

Different restaurants have different policies and consequences for when a customer skips out on a bill. "Depending on the restaurant you work at, a lot of them will make you pay for it right then and there," said Coulter. Restaurant Manager Jonathan Schiefler says they don't like for it to happen at all. "It happens maybe once a month, but we really do our best with teamwork and keeping our eyes on the floor to keep it to a minimum so it doesn't happen too often, or control our business," he said.

Waitress Malina has a message for would-be "dine and dashers:" "We are working hard for our money, too, and I know the economy is hurting, and they are hurting too; but we are hurting just as bad as they are."

Police say if you skip out on your tab and are caught it is a misdemeanor offense, and such a charge will remain on your record permanently.

Tags: dash, dine, forced, legal, payment, restaurant, waiter, waiters, waitress, waitresses, More…walkout

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Permalink Reply by Paul Green on March 19, 2009 at 7:47am

Dine & Dash - Gas & Go - Midnight Moving - These and more are problems faced in times of severe economic troubles.

Legality, isn't so much the issue here. Rather, the concept of a tight-knit team working for the common good is at risk. Penalizing the waitperson alone is demoralizing and destructive to morale and team cohesiveness.

So I don't believe the waitstaff should bear this burden. If they try to stop the culprit, who is desperate, the possibility of violence is too strong and could result in injury and lawsuits.

I would mount a couple of video cameras in strategic places along with a recorder, and the tape of the fleeing patron could be posted on the website or blog of the restaurant. The local TV news would find such a story interesting and the resulting publicity would most likely curb further attempts.

A still picture could be sent to, and shared, with the other restaurants in town to be posted by the kitchen door near the photos of reviewers. A simple black paper border could differentiate one from the other.

Removing the onus from the waitrons puts the restaurateur and staff back on a team footing. They're working for a minimum wage and also received no tip from the table.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Paz on March 19, 2009 at 9:17am

Thanks Paul...

As a veteran waiter, if a person has a propensity of walk-outs on a regular basis it might be cause to track that individual with proper documentation in case it is a lack of proper attention (or conspiracy) by any individual.

Paul

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Permalink Reply by Paul Green on March 19, 2009 at 9:33am

I wrote the above assuming a straight walk-out situation. The possibility of waitron complicity and other forms of employee theft is always of concern.

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Permalink Reply by KIMBERLY "KIM" SMITH on November 16, 2009 at 11:14am

HI PAUL, I AGREE 100%..I HAVE BEEN A SERVER FOR OVER 18YRS AND I ALWAYS WANTED THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU OR SOMEONE TO STEP IN AND MAKE A ONE WAY-NO-IF-ANDS' OR BUTTS LAW ABOUT IT. I BELIEVE IF SOMEONE IS THAT DESPERATE FOR A FREE MEAL THEY ARE CAPABLE OF JUMPING YOU/STABBING..OR HELL SHOOTING YOU TO STOP YOU FROM COMING AFTER THEM. YOU DON'T KNOW IF THEY ARE ON PAROLE, OR PROBATION AND ONE MORE CRIME AND THEY ARE GONE.....I AM NOT WILLING TO PUT MY LIFE ON THE LINE FOR A LOUSY CHECK THAT CAN BE COMPT. I DO THOUGH BELIEVE THAT THEIR ARE SHADY SERVERS THAT DO THIS TO PUT $$$$ IN THEIR POCKET SO YOU SET UP RULES, LIKE A 1,2,3 STRIKE SYSTEM...TOO MANY IN A 6MONTH PERIOD YOUR THE THIEF...JUST AN OPINION!!!!

KNOW HOW ABOUT ILLEGAL....I AM WORKING FOR A "NON CORPORATE" COMPANY FOR THE 1ST TIME IN MY LIFE...I TRAINED 28HRS AND GOT A $72 CHECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NON TAXED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE FUCK??? ALOT OF ILLEGALS I ASSUME, BUT ISN'T IT ILLEGAL TO PAY ME UNDER MINIMUM??? I LOVE MY JOB GREAT$$ SO I ZIPPED MY LIP, NOW I AM AFRAID ABOUT A WALKOUT!!!! ALSO I HAD 3 MISTAKES THAT I RANG IN...TAKE RESPONSIBILITY..IT'S A LATIN CUISINE REST. SO I AM STRUGGLING W/THE MENU, ONLY BEEN THEIR NOT EVEN 2WEEKS....NO SYMPATHY FOR ME..COST ME $25 TO PAY FOR THE DISHES...AGAIN WHAT THE FUCK!!!! IS THAT ILLEGAL??? MY FIRST MISTAKES OF MY WEEK AND A 1/2 CAREER HERE..... ANY THOUGHTS FROM ANYONE????????? PLEASE!!!!!!! KIM

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Permalink Reply by Pat Jack on March 21, 2009 at 2:06pm

Paul,

Nice to make your acquaintance.

As we have seen recently in the news, a heroic young teen, (strapping 6' 3" athlete), came to the aid and rescue of a woman in McDonald's who was quite literally being beaten by her boyfriend. The young man hauled the fat, stoned, drunk thug out of McDonald's and summarily dumped him on the parking lot concrete. The thug then shot the young man three times, (not lethal), and he is expected to make a good recovery. The young man will never have an athletic career however.

McDonald's is refusing to pay for the medical bills for the young man however it is expected that benefactors will come forward. I will never, never eat at McDonald's again as long as I live. I lost a tooth to "several" bone splinters in one of their burger's once upon a time and I swore, never to eat their again, but this is the last straw.

Give me a Whopper Junior with extra tomato any day, only a dollar and it's "Joe's" favorite burger, yeah you right!

The incidence of a dine and dash in New Orleans is a very serious felony crime and the police take this very seriously. I interviewed with police for nearly a half-hour and gave them a sketch I made of three dining-dashers, (criminal thieves), several years back during Jazz Fest. I had a full section, half on the patio outside and half inside and they waited until I went inside and dashed. I never followed up.

The waiter is never held liable for payment for dine and dash and it is a fraud, a criminal fraud for a manager or owner of a restaurant in New Orleans to hold a waiter liable for the payment, and if a waiter did aprehend a dasher, he would have help ... for sure. But of course they do not, because it is much too dangerous.

A deputized bouncer or security guard is a totally different matter an they may, and have, taze them in the bootay while they are on the run.

I agree with all you have said and it still, after my longwindedness a very complex issue.

Now, back to my fresh quarter of spring watermelon!

The sun is shining here in New Orleans today and spirits are high all around as Jazz Fest approaches.

See you all ... on the St. Charles streetcar.

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Permalink Reply by Leslie Howard on March 19, 2009 at 10:22am

Thanks for that wonderful post Paul. This is an issue that has been addressed by law makers on the fundamentals of making servers pay. Afterall, the food cost are not the same as menu pricing. If this were the case, why don't servers get charged when a wrong food ordered is placed? An owner who forces his team to pay is making profit off his employees. I have heard that certain states have now made this illegal for that very reason.

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Permalink Reply by pubmaster on March 19, 2009 at 11:28am

One thought - the server could not be penalized to take him/her below minimum wage.
Another is that staff will get back ten times any perceived slight - and this would be one.

Not a good policy for the long run. There are other ways to motivate and document.

Some companies issue banks directly to the servers, and hold them accountable for the bank and sales, as you would a cashier, to get around the loophole. Still a little shaky.

Anyway, just thinking stuff

Cheers

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Permalink Reply by Jim Clute on March 21, 2009 at 12:41pm

I am not sure that if it is legal, but what I always come back to, is it right? I can only speak for myself, and I have thrown myself into the recovery of a chew & screw a bit too ambitiously, but I always have viewed an incident as a restaurant problem, not a server problem. Fortunately we now live in the time of security cameras, so it is possible to put some legal teeth in the prosecution of these incidents, without endangering team members and management by chasing someone across the parking lot.
That being said, I also believe that there must be some consequences for a server that has repeated incidents. I do believe that it should fall within the system of discipline for a restaurant. Just like the team member that props open the back door, or the cook that fails to follow the pars and recipes and wastes batches of menu items. It is a behavior that can be corrected and requires
corrective action on the part of the person who lets it happen repeatedly.
Just my thinking and experience.

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Permalink Reply by Pat Jack on March 21, 2009 at 2:12pm

"Props the back door open" ... I just went through this with some good-hearted rookie dreamers who have an awesome chance to make it with a breakfast diner here in New Orleans, they have an incredibly good location and they are the only restaurant, (to my knowledge), in New Orleans that is using digitial dining with Motorola handheld wireless ordering computer devices. And of course they have their share of bugs and crashes to work through, it ain't poifect. I am not consulting with them on their system, but it's a great learning experience watching them fall through all of the "vendors" "mistakes".

They are high tech, but those "low tech" tricks are far, far beyond their comprehension and of course they don't want their "dream" to be broken.

They were a slim inch from two gang bangers setting up a crack sale drive through out their back door.

They ALWAYS work in teams, never forget that.