Host International Defeats Challenge to 401(k) Tip Practices

Oct. 1, 2025, 6:45 PM UTC

Host International Inc. is free from a bartender’s lawsuit accusing the airport food and beverage provider of wrongly interfering with tipped workers’ ability to contribute to their 401(k) accounts.

Under Host’s 401(k) plan documents, an employee’s pretax contributions can be made only from “effectively available Compensation,” Judge Matthew J. Maddox said. The company reasonably interpreted this language to mean compensation paid through its payroll process, which doesn’t include workers’ cash or credit card tips, Maddox said in an opinion issued Tuesday in the US District Court for the District of Maryland.

  • Dan Frankenstein’s lawsuit says Host’s policy of paying cash ...

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