Celebrity Chef Batali Settles Lawsuit for $5M

March 9, 2012

Celebrity chef Mario Batali and his business partner have agreed to pay $5.25 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged they confiscated a portion of their restaurant workers’ tips.

According to court papers filed in Manhattan federal court in New York, the settlement may compensate as many as 1,100 waiters, captains and other staffers.

The settlement must still be approved by a judge.

The lawsuit against Batali and Joseph Bastianich was filed in 2010. It claimed their restaurants had a policy of deducting 4 to 5 percent from the tip pool at the end of each night.

Lawyers for both sides said the matter was resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.

Batali’s Manhattan restaurants include Babbo, Bar Jamon and Del Posto.

Topics Lawsuits

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Latest Comments

  • March 13, 2012 at 12:36 pm
    MP says:
    Things may have changed in the past decade, but having worked for at least a half dozen restaurants I can say that this was never my own experience. In practice it would be ve... read more
  • March 12, 2012 at 2:06 pm
    A Capella says:
    Who cares if they're rich and successful (other than themselves..)? They are greedy and mean and if that's the 'reality life style' that you're referring to, I'm glad I'm not... read more
  • March 12, 2012 at 11:35 am
    youngin' says:
    I thought that restaurants are supposed to keep track of the tip money and make sure the servers are paid at least minimum wage??

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