Ritz-Carlton Wants to Dodge Testimony in Automatic Gratuity Charge Class Action

Ritz-Carlton Automatic Gratuity Charge Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: The Ritz-Carlton Hotel LLC has filed a motion to exclude testimony from one of the plaintiff’s lawyers in a pending class action lawsuit. 
• Why: The class action alleges the hotel charged an automatic 18 to 20 percent gratuity at its Florida restaurants without providing the necessary required notice.
• Where: The class action is being litigated in Florida federal court.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel LLC has filed a motion to exclude testimony from James Francis, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers, in a class action lawsuit alleging the hotel charges an automatic 18 to 20 percent gratuity without providing the necessary required notice, according to court documents. 

Although the lawsuit refers to the “Francis Declaration,” this document was never filed and was never served on Ritz-Carlton or its counsel, the motion states. It also provides counsel’s testimony about the plaintiff’s experience, which is “speculative” testimony that lacks a foundation in personal knowledge of the claims and violates court rules against hearsay.

“Mr. Francis was not there with Mr. Fox at the Ritz-Carlton in April 2017 so he has no basis to testify about what Mr. Fox ‘ordered’ or ‘reviewed’ during his stay in Florida,” the motion states. “And because Mr. Francis was not there, it is no surprise that his speculative ‘testimony’ about his client’s experiences is wrong, as Mr. Fox’s deposition testimony confirms.”

Ritz-Carlton Charges Gratuity Without Notice, Claims Class Action

Lead plaintiff Michael Fox of New York accused the Ritz-Carlton of violating Florida laws, including the Florida Unfair Deceptive Trade Practices Act in his 2017 class action lawsuit. 

He claimed in his class action that he visited two different Florida Ritz-Carlton restaurants that year and was charged an automatic 18 percent gratuity at both locations.

“Ritz-Carlton violates Florida law at the public food service establishments in its hotels in the State of Florida by failing to provide adequate notice on the restaurant’s menu that an automatic gratuity or service charge of any amount would be added to a customer’s check,” the lawsuit states.

Fox claims the automatic gratuity notices are printed in small, hard-to-read type or are hidden on the last page of the menu. Additionally, these notices allegedly falsely claim that the suggested gratuities could be adjusted or removed from the bill when they are actually mandatory charges.

The Ritz-Carlton also charges taxes on the gratuity amounts in violation of Florida law, Fox says.

The high-end hotelier also faced a class action lawsuit lodged by two food and beverage service workers that resulted in a $1.8 million class action settlement. The wage and hour class action lawsuit alleged that The Ritz-Carlton charged hotel guests a “service charge” that was not distributed to the company’s waiters, servers, or cooks.

Have you visited a Ritz-Carlton establishment and been charged an automatic gratuity without notice? Let us know in the comments! 

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Hyatt BIPA Class Action Settlement
• Conagra Unfair Wages $18M Class Action Settlement
• Honda Infotainment Issues Class Action Settlement
• Koch Retirement Plan Recordkeeping $4M Class Action Settlement