NYT: Suits Alleging Pay Violations at Restaurants

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/12/nyregion/12workers.html

Suits Alleging Pay Violations at Restaurants

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: May 12, 2007

Restaurant owners in Manhattan have long had plenty to worry about, like soaring rents and exacting customers, but now they face a new and costly problem: a record number of lawsuits accusing them of stealing tips and cheating on wages.

Though battles between managers and workers have been a staple at many restaurants, these lawsuits involve some of the most popular restaurants in New York, including the Old Homestead, the Brooklyn Diner, Smith & Wollensky, Sparks Steak House, Heartland Brewery and Mr. Chow.


Shiho Fukada for The New York Times

Costin Dumitrescu, left, and Josip Ricov are former waiters who are suing Mr. Chow for poor treatment.

Waiters, bartenders and busboys say the number of suits has exploded because they have grown tired of what they describe as being shortchanged on wages and tips. But many restaurants say a different force is behind the lawsuits: greedy lawyers.

The legal showdown has rocked Manhattan’s restaurant establishment over the last year, as workers have picketed outside restaurants, armed with megaphones and even drums, angering owners and unnerving diners. Some restaurateurs have become so angry that they have sued their detractors for slander.

New York State’s labor commissioner, M. Patricia Smith, called the violations widespread and serious. “It’s clearly a big problem,” she said. “It’s reached a tipping point in the industry. When it becomes the standard practice to cut corners, then everybody starts doing it.”

Brandon Salus, a waiter, sued B. B. King Blues Club and Grill, on West 42nd Street, saying it had misappropriated his wages by docking his pay $240 after four of his customers sneaked out without paying their check.

FULL story at link.