Encore Boston Harbor Strike Ends After 63 Days
Alex Harper • Nov 9, 2026 
What the Jake’s 58 Tip Pool Lawsuit Claims
The plaintiff, Kevin Guttinger, spent about two and a half years working the cashier cage at the Long Island property. His last day was November 1, 2024. His complaint, filed in the federal court for the Eastern District of New York, seeks certification as a class action. If a judge certifies the group, around 50 past and present workers could join him.
According to the filing, supervisors ran the Jake’s 58 tip pool themselves. They took their portion first, then sent the rest to payroll for the hourly staff who earned it.
Guttinger also alleges retaliation. He says he met with senior leadership on February 16, 2024, to formally raise concerns about the pool. Roughly eight months later, he lost his job.
Why Federal Law Governs the Jake’s 58 Tip Pool
The complaint cites the FLSA. That’s short for Fair Labor Standards Act, a 1938 federal wage law. It traces back to the Roosevelt era. The core rule is simple. Nobody above a tipped worker in the chain of command can pocket any share of what workers earn in tips. That includes owners, bosses, and shift leaders.
FLSA Tip Rules at a Glance
| Role in a US casino | Can keep a share of the tip pool? |
| Hourly tipped workers (e.g. cage cashiers, servers, dealers) | Yes |
| Owners | No |
| Managers | No |
| Supervisors and shift leaders | No |
The US Department of Labor has spelled out this guidance for years. The rule covers businesses that use tip credits and those that don’t. Put simply, the law treats tipped earnings as the worker’s property, not the business’s.
The Context Behind the Jake’s 58 Tip Pool
The property sits in the Long Island town of Islandia. It runs around 1,000 video lottery terminals. Suffolk OTB owns the property, which joins New York’s expanding casino sector. A $210 million expansion is underway and will double the size of its gaming floor.
Workers in the cashier cage process payouts, redeem tickets, and handle on-floor cash. Tipping is not typical for the role. A winning player might hand over a few dollars after a jackpot or a lengthy chip-sorting task. Guttinger says the casino required him to drop those tips into the shared pool.
Jake’s 58 told Newsday it would not discuss the allegations publicly. The casino plans to address them in court.
Jake’s 58 Tip Pool Case Joins a Growing Trend
The Long Island filing joins a string of similar worker complaints seen across the US casino industry.
In Pennsylvania, Mount Airy Casino Resort chose a $2.3 million settlement in late 2025 to close a parallel tip-pool case. At Ocean Casino Resort, dealers filed a similar complaint about their own tip pool. The Atlantic City venue has yet to resolve the matter.
Taken together, the cases point to closer scrutiny. Regulators and workers are watching how US casinos split tipped earnings.
What It Means for Workers and Players
Guests on the floor rarely think about what happens with their tips after they hand them over. Behind the scenes, tip rules shape morale and staff retention. They also affect the service at every window, table, and bar. Clear, lawful policies help casinos hold onto trained staff.
The Jake’s 58 tip pool case is a reminder for tipped employees. FLSA protections cover much more than bars and restaurants. If the class is certified, other US casino operators may want to review their own pool practices. A similar complaint could land on their doorstep next.
