Lawsuits

Batali and Bastianich Sued for Failure to Pay Overtime, Minimum Wage

Photo: Patrick McMullan

Remember when Crain’s indicated that some sort of labor action was brewing against Mario Batali? We never heard what exactly it was about, but now attorney Maimon Kirschenbaum (who else?) tells us that today he’s filing what he hopes will be a class-action suit on behalf of a Babbo server, Stephanie Capsolas, and a runner Hernan Ricardo Alvarado. They allege that they often worked more than ten hours per day and over four hours a week without earning overtime or minimum wage, and their tips were illegally shared with non-tipped employees. It’s not the first time a Batali waitress has spoken up, but this may prove far more damaging than the “Fanta Pants” episode. We’ll await comment from Batali’s camp — in the meantime, read the complaint below, and have a look at the plaintiffs over at Babbo’s website, where a staff photograph is captioned “success is impossible without a great team.”

Capsolas et. al. vs. Batali et. al. [PDF]

Update: More Details on The Lawsuit Against Babbo

Batali and Bastianich Sued for Failure to Pay Overtime, Minimum Wage