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On Wednesday three former waiters filed suit against Keith McNally, owner of upscale eateries Pastis and Balthazar. The AP reports that the "restaurants had failed to pay minimum wage and overtime while letting non-tipped employees share in their tips."
Both restaurants are established, having opened in the late '90s, so the trio sought a class action which would allow them to include any workers who were employed by McNally over the past six years. It's expected that more than 100 people will be involved, including current workers who will be protected by anonymity.
It accused the restaurants and McNally of setting corporate-wide policies that caused workers to suffer financially, including a requirement that waiters repay the amount of a bill whenever a customer walked out without paying.Expensive eateries screwing over employees? Shocking. Maybe frequent patron of Balthazar, Nick Denton, can get them to institute some sort of newfangled pay system...but then McNally would likely end up waiting the tables himself.The restaurants also deducted money from a waiter's pay if his cash submitted at the end of a shift was short and took out another $5 per shift to cover the pay of the person who folds napkins on the tables, the lawsuit said.
Photo of waiters at Balthazar via sMacshot's Flickr.
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I worked for McNally as a waiter at Pastis for close on a year when I first moved to New York. It was only after I left that I learned how screwed we were, how the money I thought was good was really quite 'diluted' compared to what waiters in the city normally make. But no worries, I thought. I did it. It's over. But now this brings up a whole new can of worms. I was in my year at Pastis frequently charged for 'dine and dash' customers who absconded from the busy patio. This happened about three times in a crescendo of liability starting with a warning and traveling up to 100%. I was also made responsible for incorrect checks a couple of times, i.e. once I swiped the same card for a split check between '2 friends' at dinner. The one friend queried it the next day and I had to pay for the other friends dinner. Then there is the enormous tip pool which included a loyal bussboy who had been with McNally for 20 years plus's wife! She folded napkins in the basement day in and day and got a chunk of our hard earned tips. I think she made more than any of us. Then the day time Maitre D, she's been there forever, she got a slice just for directing the hostess towards tables . . . It's not her fault. It's her cheap boss for making that a part of her salary. The list goes on. I will definitely be on this bandwagon. That man does not need to be nickle and diming the way he does.