There’s a sigh of relief for restaurants around Michigan as the state Court of Appeals Thursday shot down a lower court’s ruling that would have resulted in a wage increase for tipped workers. Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association President Justin Winslow tells us the previous ruling would have increased hourly wages for servers to $12 an hour, resulting in price increases and restaurants going under. Winslow says the reaction to the Thursday ruling has been joyous.
“Literally dozens of emails of relief, calls into our office of relief because this really – I can’t stress this enough – was keeping a lot of restaurant operators up at night,” Winslow said. “They’ve been struggling to stay profitable as it is.”
Winslow says restaurant servers already make more than $12 an hour due to the tips they receive. Thursday’s ruling could be appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court. Winslow says, for now, the state’s restaurant industry has been granted some stability.
