Four Star Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten Sued for Pay Violations

One of the world’s best chefs, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, has been hit with a wage theft lawsuit by a server at his restaurant “The Inn at Pound Ridge.“ The lawsuit, filed in New York federal court by Joshua Fine, a server at the restaurant, alleges that the restaurant failed to pay the minimum wage, shaved hours, misappropriated tips, failed to provide notice of a tip credit, failed to provide wage notices and failed to pay the servers overtime. The lawsuit further alleges that Mr. Fine was fired in retaliation for complaining about these illegal wage practices. According to attorneys for the workers, waitstaff were required to share part of their tips with non-tipped employees, including two expediters and a utilities worker. In addition, the servers were required to clock out for breaks they never took. The lawsuit seeks class action status on behalf of all front-of-the-house tipped employees, including bussers, runners and servers.