Servers Sue Celebrity Chef Daniel Boulud For Wage Theft

Workers at Daniel Boulud’s eponymous restaurant in New York City who ferry $220 meals to customers say the Michelin-starred chef has been cheating them out of tips and other wages.

According to a new multi-million dollar class action lawsuit from three servers (it’s unclear if they still work for Boulud), the workers claimed that waiters were forced to hand over gratuities from working private events for his six restaurants, do non-tipped work like cleaning bathrooms while making $5 an hour as tipped employees and making them pool tips with the kitchen staff, reports the New York Post (via Gothamist).

“Daniel is one of the best restaurants, not only in New York or the US, but in the world,” said the servers’ attorney. “Workers deserve to be treated fairly,” he said, adding that as many as 500 plaintiffs might sign up.

The servers say they should’ve been paid the $8-an-hour minimum wage for doing those menial tasks, and are seeking unspecified damages for tips and wages they allegedly never received in the last six years.

Earlier this week that same attorney claimed victory in a settlement involving 88 other Boulud employees who alleged many of the same things in a separate federal lawsuit. The terms of the settlement are confidential, however.

Celebrity chef being sued for cheating servers out of tips [New York Post]

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