Boulud To Settle Daniel Discrimination Suit

French megachef Daniel Boulud has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit that alleges he discriminated against nonwhite employees at his restaurant Daniel, according to an article in today's Times.

In addition to an undisclosed financial settlement, Boulud will institute a promotion policy that will be overseen by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the state attorney general’s office. Busboys and runners will receive 8 percent raises. Daniel's managers will get training in racial sensitivity.

The case was brought by seven current and former employees of the Upper East Side eatery and has sparked two year's of demonstrations that at one time featured a giant inflatable cockroach. The plaintiffs, who hail from Latin America and Bangladesh, said that white French workers were promoted ahead of nonwhite workers. They also accused Boulud and Daniel's management of using racist slurs. The case even made the front page of the Times' Dining Section, as restaurant advocates picketed outside Daniel with inflatable roach.

Boulud's more recent legal tangling involve Queens restaurant Danny Brown and the proprietary nature of initials.