There seems to be a run on restaurant-related lawsuits. This one, from yesterday’s Daily News, by Bill Hutchinson (alas, no puns) also relates to the underpaid stripper lawsuit from a few days ago.
Nello workers claim tip ripoff
Kitchen staff at the upper East Side restaurant Nello skewered their bosses in a lawsuit filed Wednesday charging they’ve been stiffed on overtime and tips.
The suit filed in Manhattan Federal Court accuses restauranteur Nello Balan and his partners of routinely violating the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
The employees — six cooks, a busboy and a receiver — claim they’re regularly ordered to work 60-hour weeks without overtime.
The workers, including one who has been a cook at the Madison Ave. celebrity hotspot since 1985, contend they are often cheated of tips by the restaurant’s namesake himself, depending on whether they were in or out of favor.
The upscale Italian restaurant serves $55 salmon ravioli and $42 calamari and is a favorite of Yankees captain Derek Jeter and other celebs like Jay-Z and his wife, Beyoncé.
In 2007, a New York Post Page Six columnist acknowledged accepting a $1,000 gift from Balan in exchange for positive ink.
Balan refused to take a call from the Daily News at his restaurant Thursday night.
“Tell them Nello’s not here,” he was overheard ordered the host.
I guess he’d take the call if the Daily News paid him a thousand bucks.
P.S. Would you pay $42 for calamari? Not me; I make it myself.