Celebrity Chef Mario Batali Sued for Under-Paying Staff

Chef Mario Batali has been accused of illegally deducting the paychecks of his staff at his Babbo Italian restaurant.

Waitress Stephanie Capsolas and kitchen runner Hernan Ricardo Alvarado both filed suit yesterday against the celebrity chef. According to the lawsuit, the former “Iron Chef America” cheated out wages and overtime pay, while they worked at the Greenwich Village resto.

The ex employees also accused Batali of illegally forcing them to surrender tips and divide them to other workers who weren’t supposed to get a cent of their tips. The suit, which was filed at the Manhattan federal court, seeks unspecified damages for the two former employees and for their “similarly situated” co-workers.

Also included in the suit is Babbo co-owners Joseph Bastianich.