An issue with the tipping policy at eight of Mario Batali´s NYC Italian-style restaurantes has been settled in court with a settlement of $5.25 million for the waiters.
Current and former waiters at Esca (402 W 43rd Street NYC), Babbo (110 Waverly Place) and six other eateries are to benefit from the largest NYC wage-and-tip suit. About 1,100 employees had tips garnished by the management of the restaurants.
The workers at the restaurants pooled their tips and Batali and partner Bastianich "misappropiated" routinely 4 or 5 percent of the pool.
