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Wolfgang Puck hit with lawsuit for stealing tips

By Kristen Butler, UPI.com
Chef Wolfgang Puck (C) arrives at the 81st Academy Awards in Hollywood. (File/UPI Photo/ Roger L. Wollenberg)
Chef Wolfgang Puck (C) arrives at the 81st Academy Awards in Hollywood. (File/UPI Photo/ Roger L. Wollenberg) | License Photo

A class action lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court claims a Wolfgang Puck catering company was withholding tips from its service staff, reports the New York Post.

The company is contracted with events giant Live Nation to provide drinks and snacks for performances by artists like Green Day and Lana Del Rey and private functions for Google and Rolling Stone magazine.

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The catering company was allegedly charging venues like the Gramercy Theater with a 22 percent service fee, and then denying its bartenders and servers tips, according to the suit.

Attorney Orin Kurtz said all Wolfgang Puck Catering and Events employees who worked private functions going back to 2008 are owed hundreds of thousands in unpaid gratuity.

“Any charge for ‘service’ or ‘food service,’ is a charge purported to be a gratuity and therefore must be paid over to service employees,” the complaint states. Charging clients for service and failing to pass along the fee to servers violates state and federal law.

When Kristin Noriega, named in the suit, asked a Live Nation promoter about the unpaid tips, the promoter suggested that Puck charge more money in order to fairly compensate servers and bartenders. Noriega further claims she was yelled at by a supervisor for the inquiry.

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She was “told that if she inquired any further about Defendants’ violations of the labor laws she would be fired.”

The Austrian-born celebrity chef is reportedly worth $20 million, and his food empire is only surpassed by Rachel Ray and Gordon Ramsey.

In 2011, Puck sister company Restaurant Associates was involved in a federal class action suit for keeping tips from employees who worked the US Open tennis championships in Queens.

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