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Ghee v. Apple-Metro Inc.

Eatery Patrons Allege 'Mandatory' Tip, Tablet Prompt Render Menu Prices Misleading

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OPINION AND ORDER

*1 This is a putative class action on behalf of patrons of two Applebee’s restaurants in midtown Manhattan. Plaintiffs allege that the restaurants force their customers to pay a “tip” of at least fifteen or eighteen percent without disclosing such a charge in advance. Plaintiffs claim that this violates New York law. Defendants move for judgment on the pleadings. For the reasons that follow, the motion is denied.I. BackgroundA diner in a typical American restaurant orders from a server and gets a paper bill at the end of the meal. If she pays with a credit card, she then gets a receipt. If she wishes to leave a tip, she writes the amount of the tip on the receipt. Assuming that the diner is not a scrooge and the service was not atrocious, a typical New Yorker tips between fifteen and twenty-five percent.In contrast, a diner at the Broadway or Times Square Applebee’s, as alleged in the Complaint, orders through a table-top computer tablet. At the end of her meal, she pays through that tablet. During the payment process, the tablet prompts her: “Select your Tip.” (Compl. Ex. I.) But the tablet does not give her the option of not leaving a tip. At the Times Square Applebee’s, the tablet requires that the customer leave at least an eighteen percent tip. At the

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