9th Cir.;
15-15791

The court of appeals vacated a judgment and remanded. The court held that the Department of Labor's interpretation of a tip regulation was inconsistent with the regulation and thus not entitled to deference.

Alec Marsh sued employer J. Alexander's LLC, alleging that the restaurant improperly applied a “tipping credit” to work he performed that was unrelated to his duties as a server. Marsh alleged that his duties regularly included tasks such as taking out trash, cleaning floors and walls, and cleaning bathrooms. Marsh argued that under the Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division's Field Operations Handbook (FOH) §30d00(f) (2016), J. Alexander's was categorically not allowed to take a tip credit for any of the time spent on those duties.