© 2025 Seyfarth Shaw LLP Massachusetts Wage & Hour Peculiarities, 2025 ed. | 109 workers in question are not actually its employees.635 In DiFiore v. American Airlines, Inc., American contracted with a vendor (G2 Secure Staff) to provide the airline with skycap personnel.636 American was found liable for not paying skycaps the proceeds from a $2.00 per bag service charge that it charged to customers, even though American did not employ the skycaps. The court held that “a ‘service charge’ need not be charged by an employer, but may be imposed by any person or entity.”637 The court reasoned that the purpose of the Tip Statute would be undercut if a business in the service industry, such as an airline or restaurant, could escape liability by entering into a contract with a third party, such as G2, under which the third party employs workers and shares service charges collected from customers with the service entity.638 G. Penalties for Violations Employees who prevail on a claim under the Tip Statute are entitled to restitution of any tips or service charges that they should have received but did not, plus 12 percent annual interest.639 Moreover, as discussed in depth in Section XIV.G, employers that are found liable for violating the Tip Statute must pay the plaintiff-employee three times the actual damages proven in the case.640 In addition to treble damages, the prevailing party in a Tip Statute suit may recover litigation costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees.641 VII. MASSACHUSETTS EQUAL PAY ACT The Massachusetts Equal Pay Act (MEPA) has been in effect since 1945, but there was minimal civil litigation enforcing it. Prior to July 1, 2018, the law was similar to the federal Equal Pay Act, which requires equal pay for “equal work.”642 Courts therefore did not permit employees to pursue complaints by comparing themselves to employees in other jobs with similar duties or qualifications.643 On August 1, 2016, Massachusetts enacted major changes to MEPA.644 These changes took 635 DiFiore, 454 Mass. at 497. 636 Id. at 488. 637 Id. at 497. 638 Id. at 493-94. 639 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 152A(f). 640 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 150. 641 See, e.g., Wiedmann, 444 Mass. at 709 n.13 (granting attorneys’ fees and costs). Attorneys’ fees and costs are discussed in depth in Section XIV. 642 29 U.S.C. § 206(d). 643 See, e.g., Wojciechowski v. Nat’l Oilwell Varco, L.P., 763 F. Supp. 2d 832 (S.D. Tex. 2011) (concluding female sales managers were not comparable under Equal Pay Act to male account managers who had different duties); Renstrom v. Nash Finch Co., 787 F. Supp. 2d 961 (D. Minn. 2011) (concluding female grocery buyer did not perform equal work as males in same position who were responsible for more distribution centers). 644 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 105A.
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