NYC’s Bar Pitti Cheats Wait Staff Out of Proper Wages, Former Server Alleges

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Manhattan Italian restaurant Bar Pitti and its owner are facing a proposed collective and class action filed by a former server of eight years over alleged federal and state wage violations.

The lawsuit alleges that Bar Pitti, a West Village eatery that People magazine calls a celebrity hot spot, and its owner “abuse their wait staff” by cheating them out of proper wages. The plaintiff claims he worked at least 62 hours per week until 2018 and about 41.5 hours each week afterwards without appropriate minimum, overtime and spread-of-hours wages.

According to the case, the plaintiff was unlawfully paid at a reduced minimum wage as the defendants never properly notified him of their intention to take a tip credit against his hourly rate. Moreover, the suit says the defendants should have paid the man at least the full minimum wage because he supposedly spent over 20 percent of each shift performing untipped side work, such as restocking the bar.

The case goes on to take issue with an allegedly invalid tip-sharing arrangement whereby the restaurant’s manager unlawfully retained a portion of employees’ gratuities.

Lastly, the plaintiff claims that the defendants failed to maintain any timekeeping system and that he was, consequently, often deprived of some overtime wages and spread-of-hours pay.