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New York's top court will give its two cents into the brewing controversy over听Starbucks baristas'听tip听jars: can shift supervisors and assistant managers dip into them?

The Court of Appeals was asked by a federal court to interpret New York's labor law and its definition of an employer's "agent," who is prohibited from听tip听sharing.

On one side are low-level baristas who serve customers and share听tips听weekly based on hours worked. On the other side are assistant managers who don't get any gratuities and want some. In between are shift supervisors with limited management responsibilities who serve customers and also share听tips.

At issue is the New York definition of a company "agent" who by law must keep his or her hands out of thetip听jar. Hospitality industry groups say the state court decision will be felt far beyond听Starbucks听and affect 42,000 New York businesses statewide and a quarter-million hospitality industry workers in New York City alone.

The questions came from the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which is currently reviewing separate lawsuits against听Starbucks听by baristas and by assistant managers, who want to get in on the cash.

"Starbucks听has not seriously disputed that its shift supervisors are supervisors," attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan argued in her brief. She filed it on behalf of Jeana Barenboim, Jose Ortiz and any other baristas who oppose sharing听tips听weekly with the supervisors who also assign job stations, coordinate breaks and receive higher wages.

Attorney Adam Klein, representing the assistant managers, said they also spend most of their time serving customers and deserve听tips. They lack the authority to hire and fire staff and therefore should not be considered company agents under the law, he wrote.

Seattle-based听Starbucks听has nearly 18,000 retail stores in 60 countries. In April, it reported $3.6 billion in quarterly revenues.

Starbucks听had 413 company-owned stores in New York at the end of its last fiscal year. Company spokesman Zack Hutson said their policy ensures baristas and shift leaders, who spend more than 90 percent of their time serving customers, share equally in the service听tips. The policy is applied consistently across the U.S., though not globally because laws differ in other countries, he said.

The company said its assistant managers are excluded from听tips听because they are full-time, salaried and "rewarded with performance-based bonuses and other benefits not available to their subordinates."

One federal judge concluded shift supervisors lack the broad managerial authority to be classified company agents. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also said the law doesn't require companies to include all eligible employees in a听tip听pool, while acknowledging questions remained on the New York eligibility of assistant managers.

The federal appeals court is seeking New York answers on two specific questions: What factors determine whether an employee is an agent of the company? Does state law permit an employer to exclude an otherwise eligible tip-earning employee from sharing in such a听tip听pool?

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