ISLANDIA, N.Y. I spent nearly two years as a cashier at Jake’s 58, counting other people’s money and dreaming of a fair shake. This week, I finally stopped counting quietly and filed a federal lawsuit.
My name is Kevin Guttinger. From March 2022 until November 2024, I earned $18 an hour plus tips at the Islandia casino owned by Suffolk OTB. I am not suing because I hate the place. I am suing because I watched supervisors dip their hands into a pot that belonged to the people actually serving the customers.
The Highlights:
- The Tip Pool Was Huge: The weekly pool routinely topped “$50,000” for roughly 50 hourly workers.
- Supervisors Got a Cut: In January 2022, Suffolk OTB added managers and supervisors to the mandatory tip pool, effectively subsidizing management salaries with our gratuities.
- I Complained and Was Fired: I raised concerns in February 2024. Nine months later, I was terminated.
- The Legal Claim: The suit alleges violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and seeks class-action status for other affected workers.
Here is how it worked, according to the court papers I filed in the Eastern District of New York. Federal labor law is pretty clear that managers are not entitled to tips. But Jake’s 58 decided that instead of paying supervisors a proper salary from OTB’s own funds, they would just let them take a slice of our pool. We were told it was a “mandatory tip pool,” but we never got complete transparency on the math.
I did the only thing an employee with a conscience could do. In February 2024, I sat down with three casino leaders and HR. I told them plainly that what they were doing was illegal and unfair. I thought maybe they just didn’t understand the law.
They understood. They just didn’t care. And on Nov. 1, 2024, I was out the door.
Suffolk OTB’s attorney, Thomas M. McNally, told Newsday the agency does not comment on pending litigation and will address the allegations “through the appropriate legal process”. I respect that. I will address them through that same process.
My lawyers, Nicholas Conlon and Michael Rinderman, are asking a judge to let this become a class action. I am not the only cashier, the only floor worker, or the only person who relied on those tips to pay rent. The weekly pool was over $50,000. That money was supposed to stay with the people who earned it.
I am not asking for sympathy. I am asking for an accounting. If the supervisors were supposed to be in the pool, show me the law that says so. If I was fired for keeping my mouth shut, the jury will see that too.
Jake’s 58 opened in 2017 with promises of good jobs and fair play. I just want the casino to live up to the sign on the door.
