Sunnyside Post

Sunnysiders are main plaintiffs in Cipriani Lawsuit

Anthony Whitehurst and Kristen Schifferdecker are two of the key plaintiffs behind the lawsuit against Cipriani that alleges the upmarket restaurant has violated labor laws. Whitehurst and Schifferdecker are both Sunnyside residents.

The story–without mention of Sunnyside–was reported in the NY Times.

Workers Sue Cipriani Over Pay

The Cipriani family, which owns a string of high society restaurants that have been dogged in recent years with legal trouble, is heading to court again, this time over charges of underpaying contract workers.

A group of current and former employees for a company that provides staffing for Cipriani events filed a lawsuit on Monday that says Cipriani failed to pass along service charges to employees, as is required under state labor law. The lawsuit alleges a number of other labor violations, including paying the workers for fewer hours than were actually worked.  

A spokesman for Cipriani strongly denied any wrongdoing by the company, saying that language in its contracts made it clear that the service charge was not a gratuity and that the employees worked for a separately owned and controlled company.

For the rest click: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/cipriani/