Batali settles $5.25M tip lawsuit

NEW YORK, March 9 (UPI) -- Celebrity chef Mario Batali and his business partner, Joseph Bastianich, have agreed to pay $5.25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed in New York.

More than 100 current and former workers at the partners' eight Italian-style restaurants took part in the complaint, accusing Batali and Bastianich of misappropriating 4 percent to 5 percent of each shift's wine and drink sales from the workers' tip pool and failing to pay extra for shifts lasting more than 10 hours, the New York Post reported.

The proposed settlement, which would cover lost earnings from 2004 to 2012, was filed this week and is awaiting approval of a federal judge in New York.

Neither Bastianich nor Batali responded to its requests for comment, the Post said.