Tip policy ordered halted

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco has ordered an end to casino executive Steve Wynn’s policy of forcing casino workers to share their tips with management employees.

In a case that combined disputes from Nevada and Oregon, the court effectively reversed itself in a 2010 case that prompted lower courts to allow the tip policy.

The policy at Wynn Las Vegas led casino workers at that house to successfully unionize, affiliating with Transport Workers over Wynn’s personal objection.

The Ninth Circuit ruling quoted a 1937 Franklin Roosevelt message to Congress: “A self-supporting and self-respecting democracy can plead no justification … no economic reason for chiseling workers’ wages or stretching workers’ hours.”