Per Se, one of the nation’s most lauded and expensive restaurants, settled with the Attorney General of New York on charges the restaurant had violated wage and tipping laws.
Thomas Keller’s restaurant had ended tipping in favor of European pricing in 2005, but their private dining services collected and pocketed a 20 percent charge.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the settlement on Thursday.
Per Se violated state labor law by using money generated by the “service charge” to cover its operations, while telling some customers who asked about the fee that it was akin to a gratuity, according to a legal notice issued by the AG.
The settlement revolved around a 20 percent surcharge in the restaurant’s contracts with customers for private dining and banquet services from January 2011 through September 2012.
The AG ruled that Per Se had violated a labor requirement that all service fees must go to employees and not used for other purposes.
Per Se workers deprived of “hard-earned tips” during the 21-month period will now be compensated, Schneiderman stated in a news release, according to CBS News.
The settlement is that Per Se will pay involved employees a share of $500,000.
Per Se maintains that it had not intended to deceive customers in thinking the charge was a gratuity. Per Se had also voluntarily chosen to change the language of the contracts before the AG became involved. The current contracts add a 20 percent “operational charge,” according to Grub Street.
Servers at Per Se staff are paid between $16.60 and $28.00 per hour, which is above minimum wage, according to the settlement. The restaurant said servers earn about $116,000 a year on average, according to the Wall Street Journal.
