Seattle baristas awarded $1.85 million after wage theft court victory
A group of bikini-clad baristas in Seattle have been awarded $1.85 million after successfully suing their employer, Beehive Espresso, for wage theft. Kings County Superior Court Judge Cindi Port ruled in the workers' favour on 28 August, finding that owner Alan Tagle had systematically failed to pay staff properly across the five coffee stands he ran between 2021 and 2025, where at least 30 women at a time served largely male customers while wearing bikinis and lingerie.
Court documents revealed that Tagle gave baristas no reliable schedule or timekeeping system, instead controlling their hours himself and setting sales targets that rose with each shift. Staff, who typically worked alone, had to fund their own cash "banks" of about $100 to give customers change, record earnings manually on envelopes sent to Tagle by text, and sometimes used their own money to cover shortfalls against sales targets. The lawsuit, brought with support from the Working Washington Rights Center and law firm Schroeter Goldmark & Bender, also detailed how Tagle allegedly told baristas to remove more clothing or post more photos online to boost sales, and warned other employers against letting the women take second jobs.
- Seattle bikini baristas won $1.85m in a wage theft lawsuit
- Owner Alan Tagle controlled pay, hours and sales targets unfairly
- Workers had to self-fund cash floats and record earnings by text
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Seattle's Beehive Espresso is a chain of drive-through coffee stands where baristas work in bikinis or lingerie, a common format in parts of the Pacific Northwest known as "bikini barista" stands. The company ran five such stands between 2021 and 2025, employing at least 30 women at a time to serve customers, most of whom were men.
A group of these baristas took legal action against the company and its owner, Alan Tagle, accusing them of wage theft, meaning failing to pay staff properly for the hours they worked. Wage theft cases typically involve unpaid or underpaid wages, often linked to poor record-keeping of hours or unfair deductions from pay. The case was heard in King County Superior Court, part of the Washington state court system, before Judge Cindi Port.
The case matters because it centres on how workers in a niche, often overlooked service industry are treated, and on broader questions about scheduling, pay transparency and working conditions for staff who often work alone with little oversight. The baristas were supported by the Working Washington Rights Center, a worker advocacy group, and represented by the law firm Schroeter Goldmark & Bender.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Dozens of bikini-clad baristas who make coffee in raunchy swimwear win $2M after suing owner for stealing their wages”.