Anthony Bourdain Restaurant Ordered to Pay Servers For Wage Theft Violations

Les Halles, the French Bistro which was featured in Anthony Bourdain’s New York Times

bestseller Kitchen Confidential, has been ordered by a Manhattan Federal Court to pay their waitstaff for wage theft violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. The Court issued a default judgment for the waitstaff’s minimum wage and tip misappropriation claims. According to the Order, the former waitstaff at Les Halles will also be awarded damages for misappropriation of tips. Les Halles closed it Park Avenue South doors in March after being open for nearly 25 years. The restaurant, owned by Philipe Lajaunie, had been in eviction proceedings with the building’s landlord since December 2015. According to the Order, the Court decided that in light of Les Halles’ deteriorating financial condition it did not want to run the risk that the former waitstaff would be left with a “toothless future judgement”.