Lawsuit claims workers 'were unjustly enriched through the misappropriation of funds'
A civil lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia alleges three workers at a Denny’s restaurant in Kamloops misappropriated more than $500,000 in electronic tips over a two‑year period.
The notice of civil claim, brought by Northland Properties Corporation—which operates Denny’s in Canada—says an internal audit found that about $11,000 had been moved illicitly from the restaurant’s digital tip distribution system, Tips Today, in a scheme involving two employees, according to Radio‑Canada/CBC News. A third former employee is alleged to have previously stolen about $494,000 using a similar method.
None of the claims have been proven in court, according to the report.
Previously, a Windsor, Ont. non-profit organization that operates public and co-operative housing accused its former executive director and her two sons of financial misconduct totalling $3 million, in a case that raises sharp questions about governance, conflicts of interest and internal controls in small organizations.
‘Unjustly enriched through the misappropriation’
The Denny’s claim states that the employer uses the Tips Today platform “to collect, hold, and distribute funds to employees.” The suit alleges that between Nov. 10 and Dec. 1, 2024, multiple unauthorised transfers were made from the system to an account belonging to one of the defendants. Northland claims the two employees worked together, with one man using access codes to enter the platform and send money to the second man, who allegedly kept part of the funds and e‑transferred a portion back to the first.
During a meeting with one of the defendants, the company alleges, the worker disclosed that the scheme was modelled on that of another employee who had resigned on Nov. 3, 2024. A review of records suggests that former worker may have misappropriated approximately $494,533.01 between 2023 and 2025, the claim says, as reported by Radio‑Canada/CBC News.
“At all material times, the defendants owed the plaintiff duties of honesty, fidelity, confidentiality, and lawful use of employer property and systems,” says the suit, according to the report. “The defendants breached those duties.
“The defendants were unjustly enriched through the misappropriation of funds belonging to the plaintiff.”
A former Kamloops Denny’s employee not connected to the lawsuit told CBC that cash tips were handed directly to servers, while credit‑ and debit‑card tips went into the online system, with servers later receiving a card loaded with the tips owed to them. The suit does not specify whether the amounts alleged to have been misappropriated were intended to be shared among multiple employees.
Previously, two employees at SaskPower were terminated following separate incidents of employee theft, underscoring the persistent challenge of internal fraud within corporations.
