July 29, 2004

OOPS, ONCE MORE

Three strikes and you're . . . what? If you're the state district court in Eagle, you're embarrassed, that's what. Again.

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We could understand the first time court personnel slipped and accidentally posted on a Web site the alleged victim's name in the Kobe Bryant trial. We had a somewhat harder time understanding how, some weeks later, a court employee emailed transcripts of closed hearing to news organizations, sparking a battle over the right to publish that information that still has not been resolved.

But a third error - this one Wednesday when another sealed document, complete with the alleged victim's name, was briefly posted on the court Web site? Sounds as if something more systemic in the courthouse is amiss.

SHRINKING TIPS

Waiting tables can be hard work, and given that many wait jobs pay minimum wage, tips can make all the difference between a good or a bad day. So it hardly seems fair that restaurants should deduct credit-card processing fees from the tips given to their waiters and waitresses.

The practice whereby the restaurant confiscates a portion of a tip - usually 2 percent to 3 percent - to cover the processing costs appears to be endemic, even though it violates the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Colorado is among the states that have barred the practice, though it apparently persists in some restaurants.

Enough. Acceptance of a credit card for payment is a decision made by restaurant owners, and as such is a cost of doing business. It's not a cost that should be borne by the tipped employee.

- Rocky Mountain News

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