chef mario batali accused of skimming tips...

Waiters Herman Ricardo Alvarado and Stephanie Capsolas reportedly filed a lawsuit against the former "Iron Chef" in a Manhattan federal court Thursday, accusing the management at the posh Babbo Ristorante Enoteca of cheating them out of their tips, reported the Daily News.

They claim that the rosy-cheeked Batali forced them to illegally divide their tips with employees who were not entitled to them.

I hoping this was just a case of Batali forcing his waiters to tip out bartenders, bus boys, ect.

I worked at a restaurant where the owner made the waitstaff give a percentage to a pool so the kitchen staff got a piece of the lucrative "Derby Pie". No pun intended....

I din't know about KY, but I know it's a big no-no in NY. I was part of a large class action suit in NY. It took 5 years but we won and for very much the same thing.

Maybe I'm remembering wrong but didn't that happen years ago at Outback here with a resulting lawsuit?

Yes. I was involved in it years ago. I can't seem to find the paperwork off hand, but the consensus had been Outback doing something of a similar nature. Although, I can not say for certain as to what they had been doing...the suit was settled and person's names received disclosed amounts.

Mortons is in the process of paying back a lot of $$$ to former and current employees for this, after losing a class action lawsuit. Batali may be headed for a similar fate. GaryF: It is also 100% illegal for employers to mandate/force tipping here in KY. You can suggest a policy but dont force it.

What do you do to a server that doesn't tip out?

Ned- that was the lawsuit I was part of. One of the litigants chose not to take the money and is writing a book about the entire process instead. Should be an interesting read.

What do you do to a server that doesn't tip out?

You play with their schedule. Give them crappy sections and/or sidework. Constantly critique their work. Basically, make them want to quit.

Ned- that was the lawsuit I was part of. One of the litigants chose not to take the money and is writing a book about the entire process instead. Should be an interesting read.

Any idea when that is due to come out? That would be an interesting process, not sure many people really know how long and difficult it can be to build a class action suit.

Ned- I'll try to find out. I know he had a publisher lined up. I can't wait to read the story myself as I only know bits and pieces of it. It was a long long road- and I think that is all I'm legally allowed to say since I grabbed that money as fast as they doled it out.