Tip refuseniks to see charges dropped

From philly.com, posted on Tue, Nov. 24, 2009


Tip refuseniks to see charges dropped

By Peter Mucha

Inquirer Staff Writer

Charges are expected to be dropped soon against two college students led away in handcuffs for refusing to pay an automatic gratuity at a Bethlehem tavern.
"It's not worth prosecuting. Gratuities are generally volunteer payments," Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said yesterday, according to the Lehigh Valley Express-Times.

The arresting officer is off today, but he'll formally withdraw the charges against John Wagner and Leslie Pope when he gets back, Capt. John Sarnicky said this morning.

On Oct. 23, Wagner, 24, a Lehigh University grad student and girlfriend Pope, 22, a Moravian College senior, were with six friends at the Lehigh Pub, where they ordered pitchers of beer, a soda, a salad, nachos, chicken wings and chicken fingers.

The group had to wait more than an hour for the food, fetch their own napkins and cutlery, go to the bar for a soda refill, and then wait for the bill while waitress caught a smoke outside, according to the couple.

Pope also wanted barbecue sauce for her chicken fingers, but didn't get a chance to ask the waitress.

"She never came over after we got our food to see if we needed anything," she said.

On the plus side, "the food was decent," the prices were "cheap," and first pitcher of beer and a refill were provided fairly promptly, Pope said.

Unhappy with the service, the couple told the manager they refused to pay the "18 percent gratuity" that the pub automatically adds for "parties of 6 of more," as stated on the menu.

"We felt no need to tip them for awful service," Pope said.

They paid about $73 for food, drink and taxes.

Then, without issuing any warning about getting the police, the manager walked out and got an officer at a nearby intersection, Pope said.

After some discussion, the pair wound up handcuffed, put in separate patrol cars and driven to a police station.

Handcuffs are standard procedure when transporting arrestees to the police headquarters, Sarnicky said.

Charged with theft of service - a summary offense since the amount was under $50 - the couple faced a hearing next month.

The pub declined several requests to tell its version of the events. Contacted yesterday, general manager William Sheehan simply read a statement: "We do not agree with the facts as they have been presented in the press last week. This is the subject of an ongoing prosecution by the Bethlehem Police Department, not the Lehigh Pub. We defer to them while the legal process is played out."

"If the pub wishes to pursue the charges, they'll have to do so civilly," Sarnicky said.

"I've never seen or heard of any circumstance like this," said Pat Conway, president of the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association, which represents 7,000 dining places. ". . . I'm surprised local authorities would even level charges."

"Most restaurants would go out of their way to accommodate customers," he said yesterday. "... It's a hospitality business."

Although servers depend on tips, they are optional, said Jeff Detzi, co-owner of Detzi's Tavern in Wind Gap, Pa., and president of the association's Lehigh Valley chapter.

"If you're not paying the food part of it, you can be arrested for that," he said. "As far as the tip is concerned, that is discretionary."

He also pointed out a downside of automatic gratuities: "There's no incentive to really do a great job."



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Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com.