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Tidbits: Litigious Edition
By
Laren Spirer
Published Jul 3, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Laren Spirer
Published Jul 3, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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- Over 120 waiters from Sparks Steakhouse, both current and past employees, have been permitted to join a class-action lawsuit in federal court over money alleged to have been deducted illegally from tips. The plaintiffs' lawyer classified it as "the largest class-action ever against a restaurant." [NY Post]

- Pete Wells chimes in on the lobster roll legal battle between Rebecca Charles and Ed McFarland, and focuses for a moment on the fiduciary duty aspect of the claim rather than the intellectual property issues: "In legalese, a 'fiduciary duty' is like a kind of loyalty that you owe somebody who places their trust in you. You’re not supposed to put your own interests above theirs. . . . Ms. Charles’s lawyers are arguing that as sous chef of Pearl Oyster Bar, Mr. McFarland had a fiduciary duty to the restaurant." [NYT Diner's Journal]
- A former executive from Cipriani got sent back to the slammer yesterday for filing false insurance claims. He had previously served time for tax evasion and racketeering. [NY Daily News]
- The sushi spreadsheet has been updated for 2007! [Snack]
- And food-lovers are going crazy for Ratatouille, Pixar's latest animated blockbuster, featuring a rat (modelled after the likes of the French Laundry's Thomas Keller) who dreams of being a chef. [NY Daily News]
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