NYC Restaurant Serendipity 3 to Pay $975K to Settle Tip Claims

Serendipity 3, an Upper East Side restaurant in New York City, will pay $975,000 to settle claims it underpaid tipped employees.

Thirty-three former servers and bussers will share the payout. Individual distributions will range from $376.73 to $52,469.54, with an average amount of about $20,300 per employee. The parties say in the agreement that they settled as a compromise to avoid continued litigation.

Serendipity 3 Inc. allegedly pooled tips and gave some of the tips to employees, including ice cream scoopers, who weren’t legally eligible to participate in the pool. A business is allowed to pay a lower minimum wage ...