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Bartender: Cafe Boulud Fired Me for Reporting Hands on Ice
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 3, 2011
Modified Feb 3, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 3, 2011
Modified Feb 3, 2011
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A lawyer for a former bartender at Cafe Boulud is filing a class action lawsuit against the restaurant's parent company and famed chef/restaurateur Daniel Boulud, claiming that his client was fired after he voiced concerns about unsanitary conditions behind the bar. Specifically, Arie Ohayon says he witnessed a bar manager putting ice in customers' drinks with her bare hands. The lawsuit also alleges that the same manager put tools inside clean ice bins.
The NYC Health Department requires bar workers to use tongs when handling ice and even wear gloves when handling bar fruit, and Cafe Boulud's current A grade could have been jeopardized had inspectors witnessed that. But instead of being lauded for his concern, Ohayon says he was terminated not long after reporting what he saw to the higher-ups. The lawsuit also alleges that Cafe Boulud did not meet minimum wage and overtime requirements, and allowed non-top employees to share in the servers' tip pool.
"I just think it's sad that at such a high end restaurant someone who complains about a health and safety violation would be treated with such disrespect," says Ohayon's attorney, Maimon Kirschenbaum. The lawsuit seeks an undisclosed sum, which Ohayon and company may very well get—some of it, at least. In 2007, Boulud settled a federal lawsuit accusing him of discriminating against non-white employees at his restaurant Daniel.
Tagged
bar boulud
cafe boulud
daniel
daniel boulud
health department
lawsuit
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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