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.