Massachusetts Hotel, Workers Settle Class-Action Lawsuit Over Tips

About 150 current and former employees of a Pittsfield, Mass., hotel as well as hotel management have reached a $1.3 million agreement in a dispute over tips the workers claim they were entitled to but never received.

The Berkshire Common Corp., owner of the Crowne Plaza, has signed a settlement of the class-action lawsuit originally filed in November 2009 on behalf of the employees who served customers between November 2006 and June 2010.

The workers will share about $850,000, depending upon the amount of time they were employed during the period covered by the lawsuit.

A lawyer for the workers told Pittsfield’s The Berkshire Eagle some workers stand to get tens of thousands of dollars.

Hotel ownership denies any liability or wrongdoing and says the case was based on a “misunderstanding.”