Restaurant chain not required to garnish employee tips

Gentry Locke for the Defense

Roanoke City General District Court

Our client, a national restaurant chain, was sued by a creditor seeking garnishment of an employee’s wages to satisfy the employee’s debt.

When a creditor receives a judgment against a person, the creditor will send a garnishment summons to the employer, resulting in the employer paying a portion of the employee’s wages to the court. In this case, the Restaurant did not have to pay any of the employee’s wages into the court because under the garnishment statute, the employee did not make enough money. The creditor then tried to include tips as part of the employee’s wages. Because the Restaurant cashed out its employee at the end of each shift, meaning she left with her tips, the tips did not pass through the hands of the employer and were not subject to garnishment.