Employees With "Meaningful Managerial Authority" Cannot Participate In A Tip Pool

The New York State Appellate Division, Third Department, recently reaffirmed the proposition that under New York law employees with meaningful managerial authority cannot participate in a tip pool.  See Marzovilla v. New York State Industrial Board of Appeals, 2015 WL 1724727 (3^rd Dept., April 16, 2015).   In this action, several service members complained that a New York Italian restaurant, iTrulli, violated New York Labor Law Section  196-d by distributing shares of the tip pool to the "head waiter" and the "wine steward," who the service members alleged were managers.  New York Labor Law Section 196-d provides that "[n]o employer or his [or her] agent ... shall demand or accept, directly or indirectly, any part of the gratuities, received by an employee, or retain any part of a gratuity or of any charge purported to be a gratuity for an employee ... Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as affecting ... the sharing of tips by a waiter with a busboy or