Come back to New York, get hit with a lawsuit. According to a press release sent out on behalf of the plaintiffs, a group of current and former servers, bartenders, and co-captains from across the entire Cipriani network are suing main man Giuseppe Cipriani for labor law violations. This comes while Mr. Cip is already dealing with some immigration issues that arose following his felony charge for tax evasion, issues he has just recently confronted by returning to New York after an extended break overseas.
The complaint: that Cipriani withheld tips at catered events and that he engaged in “time shaving” (fudging the numbers on time sheets to underpay the workers). Typically, these suits don’t go in the workers’ favor, especially when they are dealing with the kinds of lawyers the Cipriani family must have on retainer; however there have been some big time settlements of late.