Crime, Lawsuit of the Day, Money

Is it Illegal Not to Tip?

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Somewhere Mr. Pink is smiling. The Express-Times reports:

Moravian College senior Leslie Pope and John Wagner, a Lehigh University graduate student, were handcuffed and transported from the Lehigh Pub to Bethlehem police headquarters Oct. 23 after failing to pay a mandatory 18 percent gratuity.
Pope and Wagner, members of a party of eight during happy hour, refused to pay a $16.35 service charge on top of their $73.87 tab because of what they say was shoddy service as well as a surcharge that was nearly 5 percent higher than the 18 percent listed on the menu.
“Gratuity is thanking you for your service,” Pope, 22, said. “You can’t give us terrible, terrible service and expect a tip.”

These kids don’t have any idea about what they’re talking about. These people bust their ass. This is a hard job.
According to Pope and Wagner the service was really bad. After the jump, a tipster throws out some counterclaim ideas.


The news report tells us that the “mandatory tip” was actually much more than 18%. Sounds fishy to me, and an ATL tipster:

* Even if the tip was 18%, that only adds up to $13.29. Maybe the bar should be brought up on fraud charges.
* What if this had been brought as a civil case? Could the couple counterclaim for breach of contract, eg, the mandatory tip was an implied agreement for gratuity-worthy service?

More to the point, what the hell are they being charged with? They pleaded not guilty, but the Express-Times doesn’t tell us the crime.
Of course, in most states there is no statutory prohibition on being a dick. Maybe they should have paid the $16.35 and moved on with their lives, maybe they should have paid $13.29 and stormed out of the bar. Or maybe they did exactly the right thing. Regardless, there is no way case like this should take up any judicial time.
And since I have nothing else to add, below is the clip that everybody is thinking of. NSFW.

No tip leads to trip in police cruiser for pair of local college students [Express-Times]

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