Philadelphia International Airport

Remember awhile back, when Philadelphia passed the Tip Bill? According to a federal lawsuit, the airport outpost of Chickie’s & Pete’s didn’t get the memo.

According to former bartender Andrew Laplante, the Chickie & Pete’s airport location held the wait staff to a “Pete Tax” every night when checking out. Two percent of the total credit card tips “went to the bar” in cash, which at times, made up for substantial chunks of change getting skimmed off the top of the servers’ wages. Laplante claims that this tax paid for the restaurant’s credit card fees—which, according to Bill #110341, is illegal. So now there’s a federal lawsuit in the works.

Chickie’s and Pete’s owner Pete Ciarrocchi says his business ”always tried to do the right thing by our employees. We treat people fairly and with respect.”

Lawsuit claims Chickie’s and Pete’s skimmed staffers tips [Philadelphia Daily News]