The management of the Italian eatery that was Frank Sinatra’s favorite pays servers a pittance, a class action lawsuit charges.
Three waiters at Patsy’s Italian Restaurant say in documents filed in Manhattan Federal Court they were cheated out of overtime and tips.
The plaintiffs, Sinisa Janko, Marco Matic and Robert Argentin, charge they frequently worked double shifts — making their work weeks anywhere from 42 to 60 hours, though they never received any overtime.
The suit alleges that the family-owned Midtown restaurant, founded in 1944, ran an informal payment system in which no wage statements or paystubs were given to waiters.
“Old-school restaurant pay methods don’t cut it anymore,” said Lou Pechman, the lawyer for the waiters. “You can be in business 70 years, but that doesn’t mean you are paying your employees correctly under the law.”
Once the workers were able to get paystubs with the help of Unite Here Union Local 100, the paperwork inaccurately said waiters never worked more than 40 hours, according to the suit.
Chef Salvatore Scognamillo and other execs also failed to disclose how tips were calculated and distributed among the staff, the suit charges.
Pechman estimated roughly 30 servers would be eligible to join the suit, and that the total damages would be more than $1 million.
An employee at the restaurant declined to comment on the suit.
Sinatra, who was a regular at Patsy’s for decades, had a special table in the back.
When Ol’ Blue Eyes died in 1998, fans flocked to the W. 56th St. eatery, which is a staple among theatergoing crowds.
