“Restaurant Stakeout” Star Sued For Pay Violations By Housekeeper

Food Network personality Willie Degel has been accused of cheating his housekeeper out of overtime, minimum wage, and spread of hours pay, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in the Eastern District of New York. Lawyers for Ann Jimenez, a domestic worker who worked at Degels’ mansions in Long Island, allege that she worked more than ten hours a day and seventy hours a week, but was paid a flat salary between $400 and $500 per week, an amount that came out to less than minimum wage. Degel, who is best known for his role on the Food Network show “Restaurant Stakeout,” is also currently facing a lawsuit by the waiters, busboys and servers at his Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse restaurants in New York City.  Attorneys in that case claim that the restaurants failed to pay the servers overtime and wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law.