NYC eatery sued by employees over wagesNYC eatery sued by employees over wages

NEW YORK Nine employees of Buddha Bar here filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging the upscale French-Asian restaurant failed to pay minimum and overtime wages, and misappropriated tips, service charges and mandatory customer gratuities.

The workers are seeking to have the case certified as a class-action lawsuit.

Buddha Bar’s attorney, William Walzer of the New York law firm Roy P. Kozupsky & Associates LLP, told Nation’s Restaurant News that the restaurant’s “management hasn’t seen the complaint and therefore can’t comment on its allegations."

He added that the restaurant's management has not yet been contacted by the workers' attorney.

Several New York restaurateurs have been sued over the past year for alleged misappropriation of tips, including Keith McNally, the owner-operator of French bistros Balthazar and Pastis, and Drew Nieporent, owner of Myriad Restaurant Group, operator of such high-end concepts as Tribeca Grill and Nobu.