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Expediters (a/k/a "quality assurance" workers) are not tipped employees. A few years ago, a Houston jury found Chili's tip pool policy violated federal wage laws (FLSA) because waiters were required to share their tips with expediters. On 9/14/11, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed and affirmed the trial court's judgment in favor of the 55 waiters. Expediters at Chili's inspect completed food orders from the kitchen, garnish plates, and delegate to servers and bussers the delivery of food to customers. However, to be eligible to receive tip pool distributions, an employee must have direct customer interaction - something the expediters did not have.
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