3-21-2025 4:50am

CANNABIS CA$H

MD Dispensary Employees Sue, Allege 'Unlawful' Tip Sharing

Dispensary employees say their tips were "unlawfully" shared with their bosses. A lawsuit could affect workers in four Maryland counties.

Dispensary tip-sharing practices drew an employee lawsuit in Baltimore and Montgomery Counties.

Workers at Curaleaf locations in Reisterstown and Montgomery Village alleged that their tips were "unlawfully" split with supervisors. Curaleaf also has stores in Columbia and Frederick. Employees at all four Maryland locations may soon be eligible to sign onto the case in a class action lawsuit.

Curaleaf denied any wrongdoing and said it plans to fight the lawsuit.

Curaleaf store associates Gabriella Beck of Owings Mills and Ronnie Matthews of Rockville filed the suit on March 6 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Beck worked at the Reisterstown location from April 2024 until this February. Matthews has worked at the Montgomery Village dispensary in Gaithersburg since December 2021.

The lawsuit said Curaleaf requires employees to pool all tip money and split it based on hours worked, leading supervisors to collect a larger portion of the tips than the customer-facing workers.

Curaleaf, which has dispensaries in 14 states, told Patch Wednesday it is aware of the lawsuit.

"We categorically deny these allegations and fully intend to defend against this lawsuit. Curaleaf's tipping policies are designed to be fair, transparent, and in compliance with all applicable laws," the company told Patch in an emailed statement. "We take these matters seriously and remain committed to upholding fair labor practices across all of our locations. We stand by our policies and look forward to setting the record straight through the legal process."

Each Curaleaf location has 15 to 18 associates, known as budtenders, and three or four leads. There is usually one assistant manager and one store manager.

Budtenders are the ones who handle most transactions and product recommendations, and some say they have tip jars with their names on them, while supervisors manage access to the product vault and account for all cash in the registers.

“Tips are the property of the employee,” the plaintiff's attorney, Sarah Block, told The Baltimore Banner. “So it's not permitted to share your tips with the supervisors and managers, because they're considered the employer.”

The lawsuit demanded a jury trial and raised two counts against Curaleaf: violating the Fair Labor Standards Act and unjust enrichment.

The suit requests that associates collect back pay for their tips, receive damages equal to the tips withheld and obtain reimbursement for legal fees.

The plaintiffs are also moving to make this a class action lawsuit, as they say more than 75 other employees may be affected.

"Unfortunately, illegal tip pooling is commonplace in the cannabis industry because employers wrongly assume that when they pay Budtenders at the hourly minimum wage or higher, they can do whatever they want with the tips left by